A Port Charles Christmas
by melody's muse
Summary: Rafe and Alison hope to make this the best Christmas for their daughter, but when someone tries to put a damper on the holidays, will it still be merry? Story completed in 2005, not updated! I accidentally bumped it to the top, sorry!
1. Default Chapter

A/N: Well I said once my story was never-ending, right? LOL! I can't help it. For some reason, I just can't stop writing. And as long as I have PC stories floating around in my head, I'll share them. So here's my latest one, a much shorter story than the last one, hopefully wink.

And if you haven't read my first story, please feel free to take a look at my profile for the link and read the 80 chapters lol! Although if you haven't read it, don't worry, you shouldn't be too confused. All you need to know is that the vamps are gone, Eve never died, Kevin and Lucy are still together, and Livvie is NICE lol!

Well, Merry Christmas, everyone! You can consider this as my little present to you :)

**Chapter 1**

Christmas music filled the air at Wyndham's Department Store as shoppers hustled to get a start on their holiday shopping.

At the back of the store, the line to see Santa was getting quite long. So long in fact, that the line went all the way to the junior clothing department. The children were hyped up, ready for Christmas, high on sugar, and screaming to see Santa! Several parents stood in line with glazed expressions on their faces, wanting to get out of there.

Rafe was one of those parents. His arms were getting tired from all of the shopping bags Alison made him carry, and his legs were starting to ache from so much walking.

"When's it my turn, Mommy?" Katrina asked, for probably the fourteenth time since they got in line.

Four-year-old Katrina Kovich was the spitting image of her mother. She had her same long, blonde hair, her sparkling blue eyes, and Rafe swore they smiled just alike.

"Don't worry, baby, you're next. You just have to wait until this little boy's turn is over," Alison said, reassuring her daughter that she would in fact, see Santa today.

"But he's been there FOREVER!" she whined.

"And I want the Ninja Turtles action figures and the Power Rangers, but not the pink one because that's for girls! I want the Robosapien robot. I want the Robo Wheels Crash Coaster set and I want some more hot wheels cars. I want the Harry Potter video game, AND the DVDs…"

"Do you think Santa's toy factory is going to have anything left after this kid?" Rafe whispered to Alison.

"I want the Spongebob Squarepants video game, the Jimmy Neutron DVD. I also want the playstation game system like my friend Tommy has. And the games I want are…"

The man in the Santa suit sighed. There was a kid like this every year.

"And I want a baseball glove, with a baseball bat and ball. I want the Razor E. Electric Scooter, and a new bike…."

"HO, HO, HO!" Santa bellowed, interrupting him before he could add anything else. "That's quite a list there, Jonathan."

"Hey! I'm not done telling you what I want for Christmas!"

"Well how about you make a list for me and give it to one of my elves? And if you continue to be a good boy, I'll see what I can do. Say cheese!"

"Oh, Rafe! Get the camera ready!"

"Oh yeah!" Rafe dug the camera out from one of the shopping bags and positioned it to record. He didn't want to miss this.

"Go, Katrina! You're next, sweetie!" Alison said, letting go of her daughter's hand and watching as she ran up to Santa and hopped into his lap.

"HI, SANTA!"

"HO, HO, HO!" Santa bellowed once again, caught by surprise of how much energy this small child had. "Aren't you a pretty little girl? And what's your name?"

"Katrina," she said sweetly.

"Well that's a beautiful name. Now tell me, Katrina, have you been a good little girl?"

Katrina shook her head yes. "Yes, Santa. I've been very good. Daddy says I'm his little angel."

"An angel, huh? Well then you must be especially good."

Alison and Rafe smiled at each other.

"Do you know what you want for Christmas, Katrina?"

"Uh huh!" she said excitedly.

"What is it?"

"A pony!"

"A pony? Ho, ho! That's an awfully big gift for such a little girl."

"I'll take really good care of her! I promise! And I'll ride her _everyday_!"

"You know, ponies are a very special kind of pet. They need a big yard to run in. Are you sure your backyard is big enough for a pony?"

Katrina thought about it. "Hmm, no, but my nana has a big yard! And she has horses! Maybe it could stay with her!"

"Well that's a fine idea! Maybe you better ask your nana first if it's okay with her, all right?"

"Okay."

"Now tell me what else you want for Christmas."

"Well if you can't bring me a pony, then could you bring me a baby, Santa?" Katrina gazed up at the bearded man with hope written all over her face.

"A baby! Excellent choice! And what kind of baby doll would you like?"

Katrina started laughing. "No, Santa! Not a doll, silly! I mean a real baby! Like Frank and Karen have!"

Alison's jaw dropped.

Rafe turned to Alison. "Does this mean I'm going to have to return 'Betsy Wets a Lot'?" he whispered.

Alison just stood there, still surprised by her daughter's words.

Santa sighed. Most kids wanted trains or dolls or video games…it was hard when kids wanted things Santa couldn't promise them.

"Katrina, why don't you tell Santa what you want him to put under the tree," Alison urged.

"Yes, tell me what I can put under your tree!" Santa said in a jolly tone of voice.

"Hmm, well, I also want a dollhouse. But not one of those play doll houses like Barbie's but the ones that look like a real house, with little furniture and everything! And people!"

"A dollhouse! Well that's more like it! You keep being such a sweet little girl and I will put a dollhouse under your tree Christmas morning!"

Katrina moved closer to Santa, covering her mouth with her hand and whispering in his ear. "Santa, can you still try to bring me the pony and baby? That's what I really, _really_ want."

Santa looked into her pretty blue eyes. "I'll see what I can do," he said with a wink.

"Thank you, Santa!" she said, giving him a big hug.

"Ho, ho, ho! Smile for the camera, Katrina!"

"Cheese!" Katrina said, grinning widely at the elf with the camera as she sat in Santa's lap.

* * *

"She's out like a light," Rafe said as he walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

Alison looked up from her book and smiled.

"I got halfway through the story and looked down, she was fast asleep."

Alison laughed. "Well she did have a lot of excitement today, with Santa and all." Alison put her book down and switched off the lamp on her side of the bed.

"She did have a lot of fun, didn't she?" Rafe walked over to the bed and got in.

"Rafe?"

"Yeah?"

"We didn't get the chance to talk about it earlier. What do you think of Katrina's Christmas list?"

Rafe grinned. He knew what she was talking about. It had been on his mind all day too. "The pony?"

"No."

"Hmm…oh yes. The dollhouse."

Alison laughed, hitting him gently on the arm. "Rafe!"

Rafe smiled at her. "I've been thinking about it ever since we got home."

Alison moved to sit up, staring into Rafe's eyes. "So, do you want to?"

Rafe smiled. "I don't think I realized it until tonight, but I've missed having a baby around the house."

"I have too. And now would be such a good time to give Katrina a little brother or sister, don't you think? I mean, it is what she wants for Christmas."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think we should start trying tonight," he said as he began moving the strap of her shirt away from her shoulder and kissing her bare skin. "That is, if you want to…"

"I want to." Alison smiled as she laid back, suddenly feeling that incredible dizziness that happened whenever Rafe kissed her like that. She closed her eyes, feeling so happy that suddenly she was out of breath.

And then, Rafe stopped.

"What's the matter? Why did you stop?" she asked.

"I forgot to lock the door."

"She's sleeping."

"Do you really want to risk it?"

"Okay, hurry up!" Alison said, not at all hiding her impatience.

Rafe jumped off the bed, ran to the door, locked it, and was back in Alison's arms four seconds later. "Now where were we?"

"Right here," Alison said, grabbing on to his shirt and pulling him down, closing the distance between them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next morning, the smell of bacon lured Rafe to the kitchen. He found Alison standing over the stove, using a spatula to take a pancake out of the pan. Katrina sat at the table, content with her coloring book.

"Good morning, Angel," Rafe said, wrapping his arms around Alison from behind her. He gave her cheek a kiss.

"Good morning. I hope you're hungry."

"I am. That smells great. Did you sleep good?"

Alison flashed him a smile, remembering last night. "Very good."

Rafe walked over to his daughter, kissing the top of her head. "And how's my little angel?"

Katrina looked up at her father and smiled. "Hi, Daddy! Look what I did." She proudly showed him her coloring picture of Santa and his reindeers.

"I love it. You're my favorite little artist. Did you see the snow, Princess?"

"What snow?" Katrina's eyes lit up.

"Go look out the window," he whispered.

"Oh boy!" she shouted, running out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"It snowed last night?" Alison asked, surprised as she peeked out the blinds of the kitchen window.

"Looks like it just started this morning. Stepped out to get the paper and it was starting to come down pretty hard."

"Oh, that's so beautiful! I was wondering why it was so cloudy outside today."

"Mommy! Mommy!" Katrina ran back into the kitchen and tugged at her mother's apron. "Can I go play in the snow? I wanna make a snowman!"

Alison laughed. "Baby, I don't think there's enough snow on the ground to make a snowman just yet."

"Well can I still go play in it?"

"You're not going anywhere until you eat some breakfast."

"And you're going to eat all of it, not just two bites," Rafe added.

"And then I can play, Mommy?"

"Yes, then you can go play. For a little while."

Katrina took her seat at the table, ready to eat. Alison put a plate of cut up pancakes with syrup, bacon, and eggs in front of her. She took a small bite. "I don't think I can eat all of this, Mommy. It's _a_ _lot_ of food."

Rafe put down his newspaper and looked at his daughter. "Well then I guess you won't be going outside this morning, now will you?"

"I'm soooo hungry! I could eat a whole cow! Or a pig!" Katrina shoved some bacon in her mouth and chewed on it loudly.

Alison laughed to herself. If anyone could make Katrina eat her food, it was Rafe. He was definitely the stricter parent, while she tended to be a bit more lenient.

"Well you better clean your plate as well," Alison said, fixing Rafe a plate and sitting it in front of him. "You've got a busy day."

"Yeah, and I need to get a move on after this. The bus leaves at 8:30 so I've got to be there at least fifteen minutes earlier."

Alison took her seat at the table. "I wish I could go with you."

"Yeah, but you'll be busy with the bakery."

"Well at least you'll only be gone for a weekend."

"Can I go, Daddy? I wanna go skiing too!"

"I'll take you another time, okay? But this is only a trip for big kids at the youth center."

"But I'm a big girl."

"Bigger kids, Princess. And I can't take you because I'll have enough kids already to look over."

Katrina frowned.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to handle fifteen kids on a skiing trip?"

"Of course. I wouldn't have planned the trip if I didn't think I could handle it," Rafe grinned. "And it's not like I won't have any help. Several of the parents are coming along as volunteers."

"Aren't the kids supposed to be in school today? It's Friday."

"Teacher work day."

"Oh."

"Daddy, when I get bigger, can I go on the skiing trip then?"

Rafe smiled. "Of course."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart," he said, and then gave his daughter a kiss on her head.

* * *

"I'll be home Sunday night, okay?"

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Rafe held Alison close, giving her a kiss.

"Hurry home. I might be ovulating soon," she whispered with a grin.

"I'll hurry," he grinned, kissing Alison quickly.

"Bye, Daddy."

Rafe smiled at his daughter, scooping her up in his arms and giving her a kiss. "Bye, Princess. I promise to take you next time, okay?"

"Alright."

"Love you." Rafe kissed her again, then set her down. "I'll be home soon." Rafe turned to Alison, giving her one more kiss.

"Bye."

"Bye, Daddy!"

Alison closed the door behind him, and then looked down to her daughter. "Well, Miss Katrina, shall we get ready for our day?"

"You said I could play in the snow, remember?"

"Oh yes, of course! By all means. For fifteen minutes, okay? And then you've got to come inside and I have to get you ready for preschool. Cause I have to go to work and sell some cookies."

"Okay," she said, already reaching for her coat on the rack.

Alison kneeled down, helping her bundle up by zipping her jacket and putting on her gloves. "Where's your hat?"

"In my room."

"Well go put it on, and then you can play. Stay in the backyard."

Alison smiled as she watched Katrina run off to her room. She suddenly couldn't wait until there was a new baby around.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Aww, girls! Thanks so much for the reviews! You're so sweet! :)

Erin, I'm so so glad you found what Rafe said to be funny. Funny was what I was going for lol. I hope you could picture how Rafe looked in my mind when I wrote that.

Gracie, don't feel so sad your Katrina's all grown up. B/c if you hadn't SORASed her, we would have had to wait even LONGER for Colin! And you know how impatient I am so I'm glad you didn't make us wait :-)

PCGirl, glad you liked Katrina's Christmas list. You'll see she's very persistent at letting everyone know what she wants for Christmas as you read this story hehe.

Bethany, it's so good to hear from you! So can we expect an update soon?

Mariah, Kennedy, thanks so much for reading. Glad you're enjoying the story!

Well…here's chapter 3. I know the chapters have beenshort but there will be some longer ones coming up. I promise. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

"You're going to have another baby?" Livvie stopped pushing the orange shopping cart through the maze of children's clothing. "Ali, I think that's great!"

"Katrina's made it clear that she wants to have a baby brother or sister, and Rafe and I have always wanted to have another child anyway, so now's the perfect time we think."

"Well I think that's great…for you. Me? I couldn't even _think_ of having another one, at least not right now! Speaking of which….Charlotte Ramsey! Come here!"

A petite little girl with long dark hair, just like her mother, came running around the clothing rack and then crawled under it to hide. Livvie walked over to her and picked her up. She placed her into the shopping cart seat. "We don't run in stores," she said to her firmly. Charlotte began to make a fuss. "Tell me, Alison, do the terrible twos last the whole time they're two?"

"Not always. But sometimes it comes back as the terrible fours. Katrina Rose!"

Katrina walked over to her mother, knowing she must be in trouble if her mother used her middle name. She looked up at her innocently. "What, Mommy?"

"Why were you running around the store chasing Charlotte?"

"I'm sorry."

"No more playing around, or you're going in the cart too. I know you know better. Now why don't you go look at those sweaters over there and pick out one you like? You need some new sweaters anyway."

"Okay," she said softly, her fun clearly put to an end now.

"I wish Rafe were here. All he has to do is give her a look and she'll be quiet the whole time."

Livvie laughed. "Where is Rafe again? A skiing trip or something?"

"He's taking some of the kids from the youth center on a skiing trip up north."

"Rafe on skis. I think that would be fun to watch."

Alison laughed. "You haven't seen him on ice skates."

"Mommy, I want this one!" Katrina tugged at her mother's shirt excitedly, showing her a red sweater with a brown pony on the front. "Can I have it? Please! It's so pretty! Look at the pony!"

"Let me check the tag. Okay, put it in the cart."

"Yay! I get the pony sweater!" she sang to Charlotte in a teasing manner. "Aunt Livvie, guess what?"

"What?"

"Santa might bring me a pony for Christmas! A _real_ one!"

"A pony? Oh wow." Livvie gave Alison a questioning look.

"She eats, sleeps, and breathes ponies," Alison whispered to Livvie.

"It'll probably have to live with Nana. But I think if Daddy built a barn, it could stay in our backyard."

Alison laughed. "Sweetie, I don't think our backyard's big enough for a barn."

"Well it could be a little barn," Katrina persisted. "Can we look at toys, now?"

"Toys!" Charlotte said happily and clapped her hands.

Alison thought about it. "After we look at clothes, but we're not buying anything today, alright? You'll get toys at Christmas."

"I wouldn't mind taking a look at the t-o-y-s myself. I have no idea what S-a-n-t-a is going to bring C-h-a-r-l-o-t-t-e if you catch my drift," Livvie said. "I need some ideas!"

"Well I know whatS-a-n-t-a is going to bring, but it's just a matter of my husband hurrying up and getting home to make it happen."

"It'll happen soon. In fact, I bet it'll happen before the month is over."

Alison gave Livvie a smile. "I hope so. It'd sure be nice to start off the new year with news like that."

* * *

"Mommy? Mommy, wake up." 

Alison opened her eyes, seeing Katrina standing beside her bed, clutching her favorite teddy bear.

"What, baby? Are you okay?"

"There's a monster under my bed," she whispered. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Do you want me to get it for you?"

"Mommies don't scare monsters away. Only daddies do."

"Oh, I see. Well climb in, this is a monster free zone."

Katrina climbed up on the bed, her little foot jabbing into Alison's side as she climbed over her.

"Mommy?"

"What?"

"When's Daddy coming home?"

"Tomorrow," she said sleepily.

"Mommy, do you think Daddy could build that barn when he gets back for my pony? Because it's almost Christmas and if Santa brings me a pony, it's gonna have to live with Nana unless he builds her a home."

"Go to sleep, baby. We'll talk about this in the morning."

"Goodnight, Mommy," she whispered, reaching over to give her mother a kiss.

"Goodnight, sweetie," she whispered back, almost asleep again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was a little after nine a.m. when Rafe got home. It was Sunday morning, so he knew Alison would still be asleep. And so would Katrina. Like mother, like daughter. He couldn't wait to surprise them both. They wouldn't be expecting him to be home so early.

Rafe stood in the doorway of the bedroom and smiled. Look at that. His two favorite girls, sleeping like they hadn't slept in a week. Alison was wearing her favorite lavender pajamas. She always wore those on lazy weekend days. And Katrina, his little angel, looking so precious in her little white sleeping gown, holding that bear of hers so tight. Poor bear, Rafe thought. His daughter was choking it.

Rafe sat down on the bed, wondering which one of them would be easier to wake up. Katrina, he decided.

Rafe had two pink roses in his hand. He took one and ran the petals against his daughter's cheek, tickling her. "Wake up, Princess."

Her eyes fluttered lightly.

"Come on, wake up," he repeated, then moving the rose over her nose and shaking it.

Katrina's eyes shot open, then looked up to see who was there. "DADDY!" she yelled, sitting up to give him a big hug. "You're home! You're home! You're home!"

"I'm happy to see you too!" Rafe laughed. This was his favorite thing about being a dad.

"I missed ya so much, Daddy!"

"I missed you too, Princess."

"I missed you too," Alison said groggily, awoken by the sound of Katrina's excited and loud voice. Alison sat up, wrapping her arms around him as he gave her a kiss. "Welcome home."

"For you." Rafe handed her the other rose.

"Aww, I love it."

"I got one too, Mommy!" Katrina held up her rose happily.

"I thought you weren't coming home until tonight."

"Well the weather was about to get really bad, so we left before the storm hit."

"Did the kids have fun?"

"Oh yeah, they didn't want to leave."

"Did they get you on skis?"

"Not a chance," Rafe laughed. "Well they did, but not for long. Mostly I just stayed at the lodge, warm by the fire, drinking hot cocoa, missing you."

"I really wish I could have gone. That sounds like fun."

"Maybe after Christmas we'll all take a trip there," Rafe suggested.

"I'm hungry!" Katrina interrupted.

"Well you're in luck. I stopped to get us all breakfast on the way."

"Oh wonderful! I'm starved," Alison said.

"I figured you would be."

"Let's eat!" Katrina announced, hopping off the bed and running out of the room.

"Shall we?" Rafe said with a smile.

"In a little bit. There's something I want to do first."

"What?"

"This." Alison put her arms around Rafe, kissing him. Eventually, she pulled him down on the bed with her. "I really missed you."

"I can tell," he laughed, kissing her again.

"Come on!" Katrina said, clearly annoyed as she poked her head in the doorway and saw her parents were _still_ in bed, and _kissing._

"I guess we'll have to continue this later," Rafe whispered.

"Oh we will," Alison promised.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Rafe went to the youth center to catch up on some paperwork, while Alison took Katrina to the park.

It had been snowing for a quite a while, and now, the ground was covered with several inches of snow so far. Katrina couldn't wait to play in it.

"Look, Mommy! I'm swimming in the snow!" Katrina laid on her belly, moving her arms and legs about.

"You nut!" Alison laughed. Katrina just rolled with laughter.

"Hey, Ali!"

Alison looked up, seeing a pretty girl, her brown hair in long curly ringlets hanging out from her hat. "Hey, Christina!"

Christina smiled, walking over to her and giving Alison a hug.

"Well don't you look so pretty today!"

"I'm wearing a brand new coat because I outgrew my old one." Christina spun around, modeling her new coat.

"I love it. Where's your mom?"

"Back there," she said, pointing behind her. Just then, Lucy came from around the bush.

"Sweet pea, you know I don't like you running ahead of me."

"Hey, Lucy."

"Alison, hey! Well looks like we had the same idea."

"I guess so," Alison said with a smile.

"Well now you have someone to play with," Lucy said to Christina with a smile.

"Hold my hot chocolate, Mom. Katrina!" she called out, running over to her.

Lucy gave Alison a smile as she joined her on the park bench.

"This snow is so beautiful," Alison said, smiling as she watched the girls playing around in it.

"It is. I wasn't expecting so much but when I woke up this morning, there was more than there had been last night."

"Winter's definitely setting in. Rafe said they were going to get hit pretty hard up north at the ski lodge."

"Well I hope it doesn't so he and the kids can get home safely."

"Oh he's back already. They came back this morning. They decided to leave early just to be on the safe side."

"Well that's good. Did he have fun?"

"Oh yeah, he said it was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed it."

Lucy smiled. "Those kids at the center love him. He certainly is good with them."

"Yes, he is really good with children." Alison couldn't help but grin, thinking of how good of a father Rafe was. She was glad they decided it was time to have another baby.

Lucy gazed at Alison suspiciously. She was very intuitive, and something about the look on Alison's face just gave it away. "Alison? The minute I mention children, you just get this incredible smile on your face."

Alison turned to Lucy, smiling bigger.

Lucy gasped. "Oh my god! Alison! Are you? Are you pregnant?"

"No, Lucy. At least…not yet. We're trying though."

"Aww, Alison. I'm so happy to hear that!"

"Rafe and I decided now would be the perfect time to have another baby. That's why I brought Katrina to the park today. I hope she plays really hard so she'll tucker herself out and sleep well tonight. That way Rafe and I can have some alone time, if you know what I mean." Alison gave Lucy a grin.

"You know what? I just had an even better idea. If you and Rafe really need some time to yourselves tonight, why don't you let Katrina spend the night at the lighthouse?"

"Really?"

"Yeah! It'll give the girls a chance to play, and you and Rafe can have some uninterrupted alone time. And plus, Kevin and I were going to take Christina out driving around the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. She's more than welcome to join us."

"Oh, Lucy, that would be so great. You really wouldn't mind?"

"No, not at all! She's an angel. I love that little girl!"

"Mommy?" Katrina said, walking over to them. "Can we get some hot chocolate? Please?"

Alison smiled. "Sure, I don't see why not. Listen, how would you like to spend the night with Christina? She and Lucy and Kevin are going to go out and see some Christmas lights tonight. Does that sound like fun?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, great. Well how about we go get some hot chocolate, then we'll run home and pack your overnight bag and I'll run you over to Lucy's. Lucy, you'll be home, right?"

"Oh yeah, we're about to leave in a few minutes anyway."

Christina ran over to the three of them, a little out of breath from playing so hard. She took her hot chocolate from her mother and took a sip.

"Hey listen, sweet pea, Katrina's going to come with us to look at Christmas lights and she'll spend the night."

"Okay. Katrina, guess what? My friend Sandy says there's a house on her street and the whole yard is decorated!"

"Wow! Mommy, can we decorate _our_ whole yard?"

Alison laughed. "We haven't even gotten our Christmas tree yet, sweetie. Well, we should go. Lucy, thank you."

"Don't mention it. Have a wonderful night."

Alison grinned. "Oh I plan to."

* * *

The lights in the hallway were dim. No one was here today except Rafe. "Hello?" Alison called out, walking to the only door that was wide open with the light on.

Rafe looked up from his work and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Alison walked to the other side of the desk, taking a pen out of Rafe's hand as she climbed into his lap. "I'm here to tear you away from your work," she admitted, giving him a kiss.

"I suppose work can wait," he said with a grin. "Where's Katrina?"

"She's spending the night with Christina. Lucy offered to take her with them to see Christmas lights tonight."

"So this means…we'll have the whole place to ourselves tonight?" Rafe couldn't help but grin, thinking of all of the possibilities.

"Mmm-hmm. So how much longer are you going to be?"

"Not long. Like, five, ten minutes?"

Alison spoke softly, her eyes locked with Rafe's as she shifted her body closer to his. "How about this? You finish up your work, but don't take too long. Meanwhile, I'll go home, put on something sexy, fix us a nice dinner. And I'll light some candles, I'll start a fire, put some music. We won't answer the phone. We won't answer the door. We'll just have hours and hours, completely uninterrupted, making love by the fire. Do you like that idea?"

"Oh yeah," Rafe whispered as he took hold of her face andkissed her lips.

Alison grinned, pulling awayand putting her finger on his lip to stop him. She knew the effect she was having on him. "We have to save some for later." She reluctantly rose to her feet. "Remember, don't work much longer." Alison smiled at him as she picked up her purse and headed out the door.

Rafe laughed to himself. Work? Alison didn't have to worry about him working all night. There was definitely no way he could concentrate _now._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews girls! You're so sweet! I had hoped to have this chapter out a bit earlier but this has been one crazy week for me. No promises, but hopefully I'll be able to get another chapter out this weekend. We'll see!

**Chapter 5**

The room was lit only by candlelight and a warm fire. Soft music was playing. From the kitchen, Rafe could smell something delicious cooking.

Everything was perfect.

But where was Alison?

"Alison?" he called out, taking his coat off and hanging it on the rack.

Just then, a pair of hands covered his eyes. "Guess who."

"The most incredible and beautiful wife in the whole world." Rafe turned around, seeing for the first time the tiny black negligee Alison wore. "And sexiest," he added with a grin.

Alison laughed. "You guessed right. Welcome home." Alison wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.

"Something smells delicious."

Alison pulled away, giving him a look. "I seriously hope you're not thinking of food at a time like this. That's for later."

Rafe grinned. "Oh, okay. I see how it is."

"Come on." Alison took Rafe by the hand, leading him over to the floor in front of the fire. Alison had planned ahead, having several cushions and blankets set out. "I have to tell you. You're seriously overdressed right now." Alison started undoing the buttons on his shirt.

"Oh I am, am I?"

"Yes. Let's take this shirt off." Alison slid the shirt off his shoulders, giving him a smile. "There. That's much better."

Rafe laughed, removing his shoes and tossing them aside and taking a seat on the cushions laid out in front of the fire.

"Sparkling cider?" Alison carefully poured two glasses, then handed one to Rafe. "Pretend it's champagne. No alcohol, because, you know…"

"You think of everything."

Alison sat down on the floor with Rafe. "It's been a while since we've had a night to ourselves like this."

"Remind me to give my cousin a very nice Christmas present."

Alison laughed. "Considering the fact that we're thinking of creating an addition to our family, this may very well be one of the last times we'll have to be completely alone."

"We should take full advantage of that then."

"Yes, we should. Because tonight, there will be no children climbing into bed with us. No 2 a.m. feedings. Just you and me."

Rafe put his glass aside, as did Alison, and he wasted no more time. He cradled her face in his hands, pulling her closer to him as he brushed his lips against hers. First lightly, then slowly deepening the kiss.

He kissed her neck. The smell of her perfume assaulted his senses, driving him wild until all he could think about was having more. He gently pushed the strap to her negligee off her shoulder, then kissing her there as his hands reached for the clip holding up her hair.

A mass of golden locks cascaded down her back. Alison closed her eyes, feeling herself tremble with excitement at every touch. She moved her hands down his chest, smiling as she felt him shiver. She made a trail of kisses up his chest, then kissing that spot on his neck that she knew always drove Rafe crazy. As she did, her hands reached down for the zipper on his jeans. She grinned as she undid the zipper, feeling the effect she was having on him.

Rafe pulled away, but only for a moment to shed his remaining clothing. He gave Alison a smile as he reached for the silky fabric of Alison's negligee, pulling it over her head and tossing it aside.

And finally, there was nothing left keeping them apart. Rafe took Alison in his arms, gently laying her down on the cushions, kissing every inch of her, smiling as Alison squirmed underneath him, impatient and pleading.

He had wanted to tease her just a little bit longer, but Alison knew his little game and she always got her way.

She gave him a seductive smile, wrapping her legs around him and pulling him closer. She was laughing inside, knowing he was completely under her control now.

After that, Rafe lost his focus. Why was he waiting so long again? He couldn't remember. Nor did he care. He kissed her lips, finally giving in to her.

* * *

Rafe and Alison sat on the blanket, choosing to have dinner there for the simple reason that they could. 

"This is really good," Rafe said, stuffing another forkful of chicken into his mouth.

"Everything about this night has been really good." Alison gave him a smile as she reached for her glass and took a sip.

Rafe smiled at her. God she was beautiful. Never did a day pass when he couldn't believe how amazingly beautiful she was.

Alison noticed his gaze. "What is it?"

"I'm just looking at you. You're so beautiful."

"With my hair disheveled and wearing your oversized shirt?"

"Absolutely beautiful."

Alison laughed.

"Hair up, hair down. With clothes, without."

"Well you always look pretty incredible yourself. How did I get so lucky to have such a _sexy_ husband?" Alison laughed.

Rafe laughed too. "I'd say we're both really lucky."

"Yes, we are." Alison put her plate aside, finished with her food. She laid down, propping herself up on her elbow as she took another sip from her glass. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I think it's going to happen soon."

"You really think so?"

"I know it is. I can feel it."

Rafe put his plate down and picked up a pillow, lying down beside her.

Alison reached for the chain around his neck and began to play with it. "You know what else I know?"

"What?"

"This next one we have. It'll be a boy."

Rafe smiled. "You really think so?"

"Mmm-hmm. And he's going to look just like you. He's going to have your smile. He's going to have your hair. When he laughs, his eyes will crinkle in the corners just like yours do. He'll be brave. He'll be protective. His heart will be filled with so much love, that he'll do anything to make everyone he cares about happy. I can see him now so clearly in my mind."

"You know, I'm not so convinced."

Alison looked up at him, confused. "What? That he'll be just like you?"

"No. That I'm sure of. But how can you be so sure that tonight did the trick?" Rafe smiled.

Alison grinned. "So you think we should keep trying?"

"Yeah. I think we should. And it would be a shame to not put this time we have alone to good use."

"Oh a crying shame." Alison sat up, holding on to Rafe as he kissed her once more.

And together, they fell back onto the blankets, making love by the fire once more.

* * *

_Somewhere across town…_

A dark-haired man sat at his desk, talking on the phone to one of his associates. He smiled, bragging of his success.

"It's practically a done deal. My lawyer is drawing up the papers as we speak. And as soon as we get the paperwork settled, the expansion of Landon Pharmaceuticals can begin….Oh and the space? It 's incredible. And not far from the riverfront. I tell you, the way this worked out, it couldn't have been more perfect timing for them to shut the place down…."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This is one of my favorite chapters so far. It's full of Christmas joy and all, I promise! No bad stuff! Just fluff lol! Bad Landon Pharmaceutical man doesn't make an appearance in this chapter LOL. That's not until the next chapter (sorta).

Anyway, hope you girls enjoy this one! :)

**Chapter 6**

Katrina sat by the living room window, gazing out. She watched the neighbor's Christmas lights blink on and off continuously. Katrina loved how everyone was decorating the houses with pretty lights. She'd have to get Daddy to do the same to their house.

The snow looked pretty at night. It covered the yard in a shiny white blanket. The moon and streetlights made the snow sparkle. Katrina wanted to go outside and play in it, but Daddy said no. It was dark. Daddy never let her play outside when it was dark.

Just then, she heard some kind of noise behind her. Katrina turned around just in time to see her father climb up the ladder to the attic. She rushed over, excitedly. She hardly ever got to see the attic! "What are you doing, Daddy?!"

"I'm getting down some Christmas decorations," Rafe called from upstairs.

"Some blinking lights for outside?"

"No, just some inside decorations."

Katrina looked up, trying to get a glimpse of what was up there. "Daddy, I wanna go up!"

Rafe peered down below at his daughter, giving her a look of warning. "No Princess, not this time. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't fall," Katrina stated, holding on to the ladder and putting her foot on the first step.

"Katrina," Rafe warned.

Katrina stepped back. She knew that tone of voice. That was his "about to get mad" voice.

Just then, Rafe began to make his way down the ladder. He came down slowly, somehow managing to hold a big box by the edge full of Christmas decorations. Once back on the floor, he carefully put the ladder back up, then pushed it back into the ceiling.

"Ooo! Where you gonna put all this stuff?!"

"Around the house…the mantle, the windows…everywhere!"

"Can I help you, Daddy?"

"I was hoping you would," Rafe smiled, kneeling down to her level. "So let's see what we got in here."

Katrina reached into the box, pulling out the red fabric that caught her eye. "I remember these! You hang these on the fireplace and Santa puts goodies in them!"

"I see you found the Christmas stockings."

Katrina looked at the names on them, recognizing the big A. "This one's Mommy's. And this one's yours, Daddy. This one's mine! There's my name!" Katrina held up her stocking proudly.

"Let's go hang these up." Rafe took the stockings and walked over to the fireplace. "Where do you want yours to go, Princess?"

"In the middle!"

"The middle it is!" Rafe hung the stocking on the nail that been there since last Christmas.

"Daddy?"

"Mmm hmm?" Rafe mumbled, picking up his and Alison's stockings and hanging them from the mantle.

"If Santa's so fat, then how does he fit through the chimney?"

Rafe laughed. "Santa can suck his gut in really well."

"Oh. Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"How does Santa deliver toys to all the boys and girls in the world in one night?"

"He works fast. And he's got magic powers."

"Ohhh." Katrina was glad to have those nagging questions off her mind.

"Well, let's go finish putting up the rest of the decorations. Maybe we can finish it before Mommy comes home."

And they did. Just as Rafe was putting the finishing touches on the decorations, Alison walked through the door.

"Mommy! Look what we did! Look what we did!"

Alison threw her things down and scooped her daughter up in her arms. She smiled as she looked around the living room. "Oh wow! It all looks so beautiful! And you two did all of this?"

"Daddy let me help!"

"Merry Christmas." Rafe walked over to her, giving her a kiss.

"You two did a wonderful job." Alison set Katrina back down, then walked over to the fireplace, running her fingers along the smooth fabric of the stockings. "There's just one thing missing."

Rafe frowned. "What's that?"

Alison smiled at him. "Our Christmas tree!"

"Yeah, we need to get around to doing that," Rafe laughed.

"Why not tonight? Why don't we all get bundled up and go look for one? The lot's open late."

"Yeah! Let's get a Christmas tree!" Katrina sang.

Rafe smiled. "All right. Go get your shoes on, Katrina."

"Yay!" she shouted, running to her room. "We're going to get a Christmas tree! We're going to get a Christmas tree!"

Alison walked over to Rafe, putting her arms around his waist. "I'm so glad to be home."

"Long day?"

"It was busy all day! You wouldn't believe how many Christmas cookies I sold."

"Oh, well I hope there's some left over for me."

"No, but I've got something better for you."

"I like the sound of that," Rafe grinned, closing the distance between them as he kissed her softly on the lips. "Look up," he whispered.

Alison looked up, and there, hanging from the threshold in the hallway, was none other than mistletoe. "Oh look at that. We're standing under the mistletoe."

"We should probably kiss again. You know, because we have to. We're under the mistletoe."

Alison smiled, giving him another kiss.

"I have a feeling we'll be doing a lot of kissing under here," Rafe said.

"Now that's something I like the sound of," Alison laughed, kissing him again.

Katrina, her shoes on and tied, walked into the hallway. Upon seeing her parents, she sighed and sat down on the floor. They wouldn't be leaving for a while. She knew from experience that whenever her parents were like this, it was usually very hard to get their attention!

* * *

"Ooo! Look at this one!" Katrina shouted as she ran over to a very large Christmas tree. "Mommy, Daddy! Look!" 

"Wow, that is one huge Christmas tree," Alison said.

"Let's get this one, Daddy!"

"I'm afraid that one's a bit too big, Princess."

"But I want a big tree! Please, Daddy?"

Rafe kneeled down to her level, hating that they couldn't get the tree she had her heart set on. "Katrina, I know you want this one, but it's too big for our living room. And I'm not even sure how we would bring home a tree that big. You understand?"

"Okay," she said, a little disappointed.

Rafe gave her a smile. "But hey, I tell you what. I'm going to let you pick out our Christmas tree."

"You mean any tree I want?" Katrina smiled.

"That's right. You pick out the tree and we'll get it. But it can't be a big tree, okay? And we don't want a tree that's dried up and about to die. So can you go find our Christmas tree?"

"Yes! I'm gonna find it right now!" Katrina ran off in the other direction, looking at the selection of trees against the fence.

Rafe and Alison followed their daughter from a distance.

"Look at her," Rafe laughed. "She can't make up her mind."

"Yeah, she'll probably beg us to take all of them home. Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went to the arts and crafts store the other day and bought everything we need for the dollhouse."

"Oh good. How much was it?"

Oh dear. She had hoped Rafe wouldn't ask that. He was not going to like this. "It was…um…a hun…_cough…_thirty dollars."

"What was that?"

"It was a hundred and thirty dollars," Alison admitted guiltily.

"What?! A hundred and thirty dollars for a dollhouse?!"

"Yeah, and that's not including the furniture and people."

"How much was that?!"

"It all totaled to about two hundred."

"Two hundred dollars for a dollhouse?! Alison, please tell me you're joking!"

"I bought the cheap one. You should have seen how much the Victorian dollhouse set sold for."

"Alison, when you said you'd go out and buy the dollhouse, I was thinking more along the lines of, you know, fifty bucks! Not an overpriced arts and crafts place in the mall!"

"But that's the one she wants! Oh, Rafe, you should have seen her! Her eyes just lit up when she saw the model house on display."

Rafe took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He did want his little girl to have everything she wanted for Christmas, but did it HAVE to be _that much_?! "She gets this from you, you know. Her expensive taste."

Alison laughed. "I'm sorry, I know it's a lot of money. It's in the garage. All we have to do is assemble and paint it."

Rafe stopped in his tracks. "Wait just a minute. You're telling me that not only did it cost two hundred dollars, but we also have to paint AND assemble it?!"

Alison bit her lip. "Uh huh."

Rafe sighed. "Okay. I'll take care of that sometime this week."

"It's a really pretty house. It's got this long porch with this little railing all across and a little chimney and really fancy roof and everything. The model in the store was painted light blue and it had these white shutters around them."

"Well I can't wait until she sees it."

"Yeah, she's going to be so excited. Oh, and I also bought her a pony."

Rafe stopped again and stared at Alison, wondering if he had heard her right.

Alison laughed. "A stuffed animal!"

"I knew that."

"No you didn't." Alison laughed again. "You thought I was serious."

"Well, maybe for a second. You did buy a two hundred dollar dollhouse, after all." Rafe put his arm around Alison's shoulder as they walked. "So um…what about that other item on our daughter's wish list?" he asked as he gave her temple a little kiss.

"The baby?" Alison asked with a smile.

Rafe stopped walking and turned to Alison. "How soon will we know?"

"Like…maybe two weeks? But we should probably keep trying. It's not a sure thing yet."

"Well no complaints from me. I like the trying part."

"I know you do," Alison laughed. She put her arms around his neck and gently pulled him in for a kiss.

"Mommy! Daddy! Come look! I found our tree!" Katrina grabbed her father's hand, anxious to show him the tree she selected.

"Which one do you like, Princess?"

"Close your eyes!"

"Okay," Alison said.

"Keep 'em closed!"

"When can we open them?" Rafe asked.

"Okay…now!" Katrina stood in front of the tree, waving her arms and hands about as if she were showing off a prize on a game show. "Tada!"

Alison and Rafe couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes they wondered how Katrina got to be so cute.

"What's so funny?" she asked, confused.

Rafe bent down and picked Katrina up. "We're just so happy, that's all. You picked out a great tree!"

"Really?" her eyes shone with happiness.

"Oh we love it, Princess! I can see it in our living room already."

* * *

"Got it?" Rafe asked Alison, backing into the living room with one end of the tree. 

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Uh huh."

"Watch for the step."

Katrina jumped up and down excitedly as she watched the tree she picked out put being carried into the living room. "Where are we putting it?!"

"Right there should be fine. But we should move that chair."

Rafe and Alison stood the tree up, and Alison stepped over to the chair to slide it over.

"I'll help!" Katrina ran to the other end of the chair and helped her mother push it.

"Rafe, how about you finish setting the tree up and I'll make dinner?"

"That sounds good."

"But we gotta decorate it together!" Katrina insisted.

"We will, Princess, after dinner."

"Come on, sweetie. Why don't you come help me with dinner?" Alison took her daughter's hand, leading her into the kitchen.

Katrina looked back once more at the tree. She couldn't wait!

After dinner, Katrina was the first to make it to the living room. She looked around, eyeing the big box her father had set out a while ago of tree ornaments and decorations. "Oh boy! Look at all of this stuff!"

Rafe and Alison laughed as they walked into the room, seeing how excited Katrina was.

"Hey, don't start without us," Rafe said.

Alison turned on some Christmas music to set the mood.

"Where do I put this one, Daddy?" Katrina held up a gingerbread man ornament.

"You can put it anywhere you want, Princess."

Katrina's eyes widened. "Anywhere?!"

"Anywhere."

Katrina squealed, grabbing a handful of things out of the box and running to the tree, putting them anywhere she desired.

Alison walked over to Rafe, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on chest. "You remember the Christmas when I was pregnant?"

Rafe smiled. "Yes. I do."

"Remember the first time we felt her kick was when we were decorating the tree?"

Rafe looked down at Alison and smiled. "She was excited about Christmas then, and she's excited about it now."

Alison laughed. "Maybe we should go help out before all of the ornaments ends up at the bottom of the tree."

"She'll get the bottom, we'll take the top," Rafe said with a laugh.

So the three of them began decorating, and soon enough, their tree looked complete.

Except for one thing.

"Who wants to put the angel on?" Rafe announced, holding up the tree topper.

"Me! Me! Me!" Katrina shouted.

"Here you go, Princess." Rafe handed the angel to Katrina and picked her up. He held her high above him as she reached over to put the angel at the very top.

"Okay, I'm going to get the lights," Alison called. She flipped off the overhead light.

"Everyone ready?" Rafe asked.

"Yes."

"Okay. 1-2-3."

At the count of three, Rafe turned on the Christmas tree lights.

"Wow!" Katrina whispered.

"Pretty amazing isn't it?" Rafe said to his daughter.

"Look at all the colors, Daddy! Pink, yellow, blue, red, green, purple."

"I love it." Alison walked over to Rafe and Katrina and put her arms around them.

"It's the bestest Christmas tree EVER!" Katrina exclaimed.

Rafe and Alison laughed.

"It sure it, Princess." Rafe kissed her on the head. "It sure is."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well, here's chapter 7. I'll warn you. It's kind of a bummer chapter. Until 8…

**Chapter 7**

Alison peeked out the window and smiled. She thought she heard the sound of a car door shutting. Alison walked to the front door, opening it for Rafe.

"Hi sweetheart!" Alison put her arms around Rafe, pulling him in for a kiss.

"Hey, angel," Rafe said softly.

Alison frowned. Something wasn't right. Rafe didn't sound like his usual self. He wasn't smiling either. "Rafe, what's the matter?"

Rafe hung up his coat and walked over to the couch. "Just about everything."

Alison sat beside him, a look of worry on her face. "What happened? What can I do?"

Rafe looked down. "There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do."

"Rafe, you're starting to freak me out just a little bit. What happened?"

"I received some bad news today."

"What kind of bad news?"

"The grant money that funds the youth center…it's run out."

"Okay. What does that mean?"

"They're shutting it down, Alison. That's what it means."

"What? They can't do that, can they?"

"Well according to the city of Port Charles, they can," Rafe said, raising his voice a little in anger. "They don't have the funds the run the program anymore, so they're closing it."

"Well…can't they get the money from somewhere else?"

"Doesn't matter." Rafe shrugged his shoulders. "Even if they could, it would be too late anyway."

"Rafe, I don't understand."

"The building has already been bought. Effective January 1, the whole place is going to be torn down and some pharmaceutical company is going to take it's place."

"What?!"

"Believe me, it's not the news I expected either."

"They can't do that! That's not fair! There has to be something we can do to stop this, right?"

"I don't think so."

Alison put her hand on his shoulder. "Rafe, I'm so sorry. That's terrible news."

"I should have seen this coming. I knew there was always the possibility that the funding would be cut but I always assumed they wouldn't let that happen. Now it's too late to do anything about it."

"Rafe, don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault."

"I just can't believe it's going to be shut down. Doesn't seem right."

"Look, why don't you go unwind for a bit? Take a shower. Go for a run. Take a nap. Do something, okay? If you keep thinking about it, you're just going to make yourself feel worse. We'll talk about this later, alright?"

Rafe gave Alison a weak smile. "Okay. Love you." He kissed her lightly.

"Love you, too."

As Rafe stood up to leave, Katrina ran into the room, a puppet on each hand. She lit up when she saw her father.

"Daddy, you're home! Play with me!" Katrina held up the dog and cat puppets she held, moving their mouths up and down.

"Not now, Princess." With that, he patted her on the head and left the room.

Katrina frowned as she walked over to her mother and climbed into her lap. "Mommy, is Daddy mad at me?"

"Oh, no, baby. No. Daddy's not mad at you. Daddy just had a bad day. Let's just let him have some time to himself right now, okay?"

"I know, maybe we can cheer him up!"

Alison smiled. "What could we do to cheer him up?"

"Hmm…well…you could cook him his favorite dinner! Spaghetti and tomato sauce with extra, extra, extra parmesan cheese…just how Daddy likes it!"

Alison laughed. "Well that sounds like a plan. And I have that in the cabinet right now."

"And after dinner, maybe I could read Daddy a bedtime story."

"Oh, _you're_ going to read the story?"

"Yeah. When Daddy reads he uses funny voices and it always makes me laugh, so maybe it'll make Daddy laugh too. And then you know what you should do, Mommy?"

"What?"

"You should kiss him lots and lots! Because Daddy likes it when you kiss him."

Alison laughed again. "I think those are all really good ideas. You want to help me cook dinner?"

"Yes!" she whispered excitedly.

"Okay, come on." Alison got up from the couch with Katrina following her.

"Hey, Mommy?"

"What, sweetie?"

"I think we should make some cookies too, because Daddy likes cookies."

"I think someone else loves them too." Alison grinned at her daughter, knowing her little game.

"Please, Mommy?"

"Alright, we'll make some. You're in luck, because Mommy likes them too!"

* * *

Alison yawned, her eyes too sleepy to continue reading her book. As she put the book down, she noticed the clock. 11:48. Rafe hadn't come to bed yet. She was worried about him.

After dinner, Rafe slipped off to the garage, where he'd been for hours now. By the time Alison had gotten Katrina a bath and tucked her into bed, the little girl was too tired to remember that she wanted to read her father a story.

Alison stood up, deciding she should go check on him.

As Alison passed the hallway, she peeked into Katrina's room. The child lay fast asleep in her bed, clutching her little teddy bear tightly. Alison smiled, closing her bedroom door.

Alison made her way through the kitchen and opened the door to the garage. She stood in the doorway and watched Rafe for a few moments.

"Damn it!"

Alison cleared her throat, getting his attention. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Rafe, why don't you come to bed?"

"Because, Alison, I'm determined to get this dollhouse put together."

"That's not something you can finish in one night. You can work on it tomorrow. Come to bed."

"Look at this box. It says right here, 'Easy to Build!' Yeah right! 'Easy to build' my ass! I'm so sick of this damn door! It's not going in the frame right for some reason! I must have something in the wrong place."

This didn't sound good. Rafe for one, wasn't much of a curser, but this dollhouse was certainly bringing out a lot of rage in him. She knew also that he had a lot on his mind. She was sure working on the dollhouse was just a way for him to distract himself.

"Rafe, it's late. It's almost midnight. Why don't you give it a rest? You can come back to it tomorrow and I'm sure by then, it'll seem a lot easier than it is right now."

"Alison, you don't understand. When you told me the way Katrina's eyes lit up when she saw this dollhouse at the craft store, all I could think about was how happy she would be seeing it under the tree Christmas morning. But I can't even get the damn thing together! What else could go wrong this Christmas?" Rafe threw the instructions down on the floor, frustrated with them.

Alison walked over to Rafe, sitting down beside him. "It's not just the dollhouse that's bothering you, is it? Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't believe I'm losing it, Alison. Four years I've run that center and this is what it comes to. You know, that place was _nothing_ when I took over it. You should have seen the change that came over them in just those first months. They were suddenlyexcited about playing sports. They were making good grades, because we helped them with their homework. We gave them a place to play after school. Kept them off the streets. And for all of that hard work, the city of Port Charles decides to let it go to waste. Just like that. They don't care to find a way to financially support it. But the idea of big business taking over to quote, "bring more jobs to the city" is all they care about. But what about all of those kids? Don't they realize their taking away something very important to them? I've never felt so unappreciated in my life."

"Hey, you are appreciated. I mean, those kids love you. The parents love you. You have worked really hard to make that center what it is today. And what's happening isn't fair."

"I have to tell the children about it tomorrow. I know they're not going to like it."

"I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to fix it."

"So do I. But what's done is done." Rafe turned his attention back to the house, trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

"Maybe we can figure out something. We just need to think about it for a while."

"Maybe. Damn. These things should come pre-assembled."

"You know, Rafe, I'm looking at this dollhouse right now and, in all honestly, I think you're doing a great job on it. It's beginning to look like a real house."

"A house without a door."

"Okay, let me see those instructions."

Rafe handed the now crumpled paper to her. She studied the directions for a while as she examined the little door. "I think I know what's wrong with this."

"What?"

"Sweetie, it's just upside down."

"What?" Rafe picked up the door, looked at it, then laughed at himself. "You're right. You're absolutely right. How did I do that?"

"I think you've been spending a little too much time with this. And you must be tired."

"I am tired."

"Well come to bed. Because I'm tired too, and it's really hard for me to sleep if you're not beside me keeping the bed warm. We'll think about all of this tomorrow, okay?"

Rafe smiled, reaching out to touch Alison's face. "All right. I'll take a break from it. But only if you promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"That you'll take my mind off my problems."

Alison smiled. "Now that, I can do." She moved close to him, kissing his lips gently. "Where you going to hide this?"

"On that shelf, in that box up there. You don't think she'll see it, do you?"

"No, I don't think so. But I'll keep her out of the garage just in case. You need some help moving it?"

"No, I got it. But could you toss that box in the trash for me?"

"Sure."

"All right, the bed calls me now."

"Rafe?"

"Yeah?"

"From now on, we'll try to avoid 'some assembly required.' I don't like to see you full of rage."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Well, so much for finishing this story BEFORE Christmas LOL! That had been my original plan, but I guess I just don't write fast enough. I better work on that ;-) Hope nobody minds that this Christmas story will still be going on after the holidays!

**Chapter 8**

_Ding Dong_

"I'll get it! I'll get it! I'll get it! I'll get it!" Katrina ran to the door, her mother right behind her. Katrina struggled with the doorknob.

"Katrina, you need to let an _adult_ get the door," Alison reminded her.

Katrina stepped back, letting her mother unlock the door and open it.

"Nana?"

"Nana!!" Katrina held her arms up to give Amanda a hug.

"Hello, dear!"

"Can I ride in the limo?!"

"Another time, darling. Hello, Alison." Amanda gave her granddaughter a hug.

"Hi, Nana. Come in. What brings you by?"

Amanda gave Alison a confused expression. "Why, darling, don't you remember? You invited me over for tea the other day."

"Oh. Right. Nana, I'm sorry. I just forgot. I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"Well that's quite alright. We can still visit. Why don't you go prepare the tea and I shall visit with my great-granddaughter?"

"Alright."

Amanda took her coat off and hung it on the coat rack.

"Come here, Nana. I wanna show you something!" Katrina took her by the hand and led her over to the tree. "Look! It's our Christmas tree!"

"I can see that. It's a beautiful tree!"

"Daddy let me pick it out. All by myself! And I helped decorate it too! See all the pretty ornaments!"

"Yes I do."

"The gingerbread man is my favorite! He's so cute! And look what's under it!"

"I see some presents!"

"Yeah! It's not a lot of presents yet, but soon, there's gonna be a whole bunch! Look, here's one for me!" Katrina picked up a box wrapped in snowman gift-wrap. "Daddy says I can't open any presents until Christmas morning." Katrina motioned for Amanda to come closer as she whispered. "But if you shake them, you can kinda hear what's inside. I think this is a teddy bear!"

Amanda laughed. "You're just like your mother."

"Yeah. Everyone says that."

Amanda laughed again. She walked over to the couch. "When your mother was your age, she would pick up every present under the tree and shake it, trying to figure out what it was. And sometimes, I'd catch her opening one early."

Katrina gasped. "Ohh! She's not supposed to do that!"

"Well you keep an eye on your mother then. I think she still likes to open a few of her presents early."

Katrina laughed. "Hey, Nana! Are you gonna come hear me sing??"

"Sing?"

"Miss Laurie said we're gonna sing _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_ for the holiday celebration at school. You coming?"

Amanda smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Just let me know when it is and I'll be there!"

"Okay, tea's ready," Alison announced, walking into the living room with a tray of tea. "I guess you have perfect timing, Nana. I had made a pot of tea right before you came."

Katrina stood up, giving her mother a look of disapproval as she pointed to her. "Mommy! No opening presents until Christmas, or you're gonna be in BIG TROUBLE!! You got that?!"

Alison laughed. She had no idea where this was coming from but it was funny. "Okay. I promise."

"Good!" Katrina then ran off to her room.

"What was that about?"

"Oh I was just telling Katrina how you used to open Christmas presents early."

"Oh, come on, Nana. I would only open _one._ How's the tea?"

"It's good. Thank you, Alison."

"You're welcome. I'm sorry I forgot you were coming today."

"You look exhausted, Alison."

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Is everything alright?"

"No. Not really."

"What's the matter?"

"I got some bad news. Rafe told me yesterday that the youth center is being shut down. The grant that funds it ran out. And since there's no more money to operate it, they're closing it. Rafe's really upset about it."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Alison."

Katrina ran back into the room, climbing up on the couch between them. "Nana? Can I have a pony?" she interrupted.

"A pony?"

"Yeah. I want a brown pony with a white face. Santa said he'd try to bring me one. If he does, can it live with you? Please, Nana? Pretty please! We don't have a barn for it to stay!"

"Hmm, well if Santa brings you one, than yes, it most certainly can stay with me. There's plenty of room at the Barrington stables for one more!"

"Yay! Thanks, Nana! You're the best!" Katrina kissed her great-grandmother, then bounded off the couch and ran to her room again.

"Nana, please don't encourage her. We're not getting her a pony."

"Well you know, she has taken an interest in horses lately. Maybe we ought to sign her up for some horseback riding lessons."

"Horseback riding lessons? Oh no! Rafe would NOT go for that. He already has enough of a problem with her riding her tricycle, let alone a horse! Plus, she's four. Don't you think that's a bit too young?"

"Well if I seem to recall, I think you were six when you rode your first horse."

"Nana, can we change the subject, please?"

"Of course, dear."

"Well anyway, like I was saying about the youth center. Rafe's not taking it too well. And to make matters worse, there's no chance in saving it. There are already plans to turn it into some kind of pharmaceutical company."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. It's just that Rafe really loved working there, working with the kids. You know? And now he's going to lose it. This just really puts a damper on the holidays."

Amanda put her hands over Alison's. "Well don't worry, dear. I'm sure things will work out."

"You think so?"

"Well of course. Rafe is a bright young man. I'm sure he'll find something else to do."

"But, Nana, we really want to save the center. Do you think there's anything we can do?"

"Well probably not, dear. You said there were plans to turn it into a pharmaceutical company, right? Look, Alison, I know this is upsetting for you and Rafe, but don't let something like this ruin your holiday. Something else is always around the corner. Who knows? Maybe this is for the best."

"_For the best_? Nana, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Alison said defensively.

"What I meant was that while running a youth center is something very admirable Rafe did, now he'll have time to focus on other things. There are other careers he can explore. I thought at one time he was considering the ministry."

"Yes, he was, but that was a long time ago. Now he's decided that he really loves working with the kids."

"Well perhaps he should reconsider. Why, a minister is a very respectable position."

"And running a center for disadvantaged youth _isn't_?"

"I didn't say that, Alison. Now you're just putting words in my mouth. But honestly, I never did understand what it was about that center that your husband enjoyed so much. The building is so old. And drafty. It's located in a bad part of town and the kind of children at that place…oh, dreadful. They're the kind of teenagers that turn out to be the thieves and drug dealers you hear about on the evening news."

With that remark, she hit her last nerve, and Alison couldn't take it anymore. Her grandmother always did have a way of putting her foot in her mouth and saying some pretty vicious things.

"Okay, that's it, Nana! OUT!"

"Alison!"

"Nana, I invited you into my home, hoping we could have a nice afternoon and some tea while we chatted, and this is what always happens! You do something or you say something, and you always have a way of just screwing things up!"

Amanda, tight-lipped, rose to her feet and grabbed her purse. "Well, I certainly know when I have overstayed my welcome. Goodbye, Alison. Tell Katrina I'll send her gifts later."

Alison walked her grandmother to the door, giving her the silent treatment. Once she walked out the door, Alison closed it behind her. She sighed heavily, wondering why she couldn't have a normal grandmother like everyone else.

A few moments later, Rafe walked through the front door. "Hey, Alison. I'm home. Was that your grandmother I saw going down the street?"

"Yes." Alison walked over to Rafe, giving him a hug.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Just had a fight with Nana, but what else is new? I don't want to talk about it. So, how was your day? Or do I already know?"

"I told the kids today."

"How did they take it?"

"Not so good. Little Anthony cried."

"Aww. That's so sad."

"The older kids took the news a little better, but we were all pretty bummed."

"I'm sorry, Rafe."

"Well, what can you do?" Rafe shrugged his shoulders. "Listen, I'm going to go change and go for a run before dinner."

"Okay. You go do that."

Rafe kissed her quickly and headed off to the bedroom.

Alison sighed, walking over to the radio and turning it on. She had hoped hearing some Christmas music would lift her spirits, but as _It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year_ began to play, she turned it off.

* * *

"Mommy?" 

"Yes?"

"How do you write the word 'pony'?"

Alison smiled, walking over to the coffee table to see what Katrina was working on. Katrina had drawn a big brown pony on her paper. "P-o-n-y," she said slowly, letting Katrina write each letter before she said the next. "You drawing some pictures, baby?"

Katrina looked up at her mother and smiled. "I'm writing Santa a letter! I wanna make sure he doesn't forget my Christmas list! Can you help me?"

Alison took a seat on the couch. "Sure."

"Write what I say!" Katrina handed her mother a blank sheet of paper from her pad and a red crayon. "Dear Santa, for Christmas, I want a brown pony with a white face. Also I want…"

"Okay, hold on, let me write it. _A brown pony with a white face_. Okay, what else?"

"And I also want a cute little baby. A REAL baby."

Alison smiled as she wrote down the word 'baby'. "Okay. What else do you want me write?"

"I want a baby with a bald head and blue eyes and chubby cheeks. Oh yeah, and one that _doesn't_ poop!"

Alison tried to hold back her laughter, but she couldn't. It was just too funny. "Katrina, I'm sorry to tell you this, but babies _have_ to poop!"

"But I don't wanna change a stinky diaper! PU!" Katrina pinched her nose as if she smelled something awful.

"Katrina, I don't think anyone likes changing stinky diapers."

Katrina looked up at her mother with a sneaky grin. "Let's make Daddy do it!"

Alison laughed ever harder. "I think that's a _very_ good idea!"

"What's so funny?" Rafe walked into the living room, curious as to what all the laughter was about.

Alison looked up at him, trying to get her composure. "Um, nothing really. Girl talk."

Rafe kneeled down on the floor, looking his daughter in the eye. "What's the big secret, Princess?"

Katrina laughed. "I can't tell you!"

"You can't tell me, huh?"

"No."

"Well then I guess I'm just going to have to tickle it out of you!"

"Ahh!" Katrina squealed with laughter. Nobody could tickle harder than her daddy. "Daddy!"

"Hahaha!" Rafe said, tickling her stomach, where she was the most ticklish.

"Daddy!" Katrina wriggled herself free of him and ran out of the room. She stopped in the hallway and turned around. "I got away! HAHAHA!"

Rafe laughed as he sat on the couch. "So what were you really talking about? And why do I have a feeling it involves me?"

"Your daughter and I have made a decision."

"Okay. What?"

"No, no. First you have to agree to do it."

"I'm not agreeing to anything until I hear what it is."

"It's something that would make Katrina and I very happy. You do want us to be happy, don't you?"

"Of course."

"So you'll agree?"

Rafe laughed. "No. Depends on what it is!"

"Then I can't tell you."

"Okay, okay. Fine. What is it? I'll agree to it. What is it that would make you and Katrina very happy?"

Alison began to laugh.

"What?"

"I hope you like changing diapers."

"Changing diapers? What does that mean?"

"When Santa brings a baby to this house, you can be in charge of it!"

"What? Oh no, I don't think so!"

"Sorry, you already agreed to it!" Alison rolled with laughter.

"Wait a minute. You said if _Santa_ brings a baby. But we both know it takes nine months and unless a guy dressed in a Santa suit delivers the baby…it's not going to happen."

"Oh no, don't try to get out of this on a technicality!"

"Okay, I tell you what. How about this? I'll change every diaper for the first week."

Alison thought about it for a moment. Then she smiled. "Two."

"Two weeks?"

"Yes. Make it two."

"Alison, do you know how many changings that is?"

"Hey, I'm the one who has to carry the baby. I'm the one who has to go through labor and delivery. Now if you can't handle the diapers for two weeks then…"

"Alright, alright. Fine. You win."

Alison smiled. "Thank you."

"How did I get myself involved in this?"

Alison laughed. "It was your daughter's idea."

* * *

It was hard not to think about it. Rafe sat at the desk, writing about it in his journal. 

He thought about the look of sadness on the children's faces when he toldthem the center was shutting down. A lot of those kids, he had known for a long time. They had older siblings who had been there since he took over the center.

The parents were just as sad. It was such a loss. The youth center was the one place they could count on to keep their children safe after school. And now, where would they go?

"Daddy?"

Rafe looked over to the little voice behind him. "Hey, Princess."

"I need an envelope."

Rafe looked in the drawer and got one out. "Mailing something?"

"Uh huh. My letter to Santa. Mommy helped me write it. You gotta put North Pole on it. That's where Santa lives."

"Alright." Rafe talked aloud as he wrote. "Katrina Rose Kovich. Port Charles, New York. To Santa Claus, North Pole."

Katrina smiled. "Here's my letter. Can you put it in?"

"Sure." Rafe glanced at the letter, seeing the words "pony" and "baby" written all over the page in Katrina's four-year-old handwriting. He smiled. Well, she wouldn't get the pony, at least not a real one, but the baby was something she could definitely count on. Not by Christmas, but sometime soon.

Rafe folded the letter into three sections and stuffed it into the envelope.

"I wanna lick it!"

Rafe smiled. "Here you go."

Katrina took the envelope and sealed it. "Daddy, you forgot something!"

"What did I forget?"

"I need a stamp! The post office man won't deliver it without one!"

Rafe opened the drawer, digging out the book of stamps and handing her one.

"Thanks, Daddy!"

"You're welcome."

"I wanna mail it now! Can I go outside and put it in the mailbox?"

"No. You can wait until the morning. Right now, it's your bedtime."

"Aww! No, Daddy! Five more, I mean ten…no, a million more minutes!"

"Katrina. It's your bedtime."

"But I'm not sleepy."

"Go pick our your book, and I'll be there in just a minute to read to you."

Katrina gave it up. Daddy hardly ever let her stay up just a little bit longer. Mommy sometimes would, but not Daddy.

* * *

"_The young prince looked down, and to his amazement, the dragon that had terrorized the town was finally gone, fallen to her death at the edge of the cliff. Now the castle was open, and the prince left to find the princess…"_

"Rafe?"

Rafe looked up from the book he was reading, seeing Alison standing in the doorway.

"She's asleep," Alison whispered.

Rafe looked down at Katrina and smiled. "She always does that. She insists she's never tired but she always falls asleep before the end of the story."

Alison walked over to him, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him. "Are you ready to come to bed?"

"Yeah." Rafe closed the book, looking at the cover painted with pictures of castles, kings and queens, and mythical creatures. "Wouldn't it be nice if real life were like the fairy tales? Even though things look bad, everyone always winds up having a good ending. A happily ever after." Rafe placed the book back on the shelf beside Katrina's bed.

"Well I don't know," Alison said, putting her arms around Rafe's shoulders, gently massaging him. "I'd say we've lived a pretty good fairy tale life so far. Think about it. We've survived a vampire. We survived a ticking clock. You made it through the gates of heaven just to be with me. So far, every challenge we've had, we made it. I'd say this is just one more dragon we have to kill."

Rafe gave her a smile. "You just thought of all that?"

"Well, you do have to admit. If _anyone_ is living the life of a fairy tale, it's us. Come on, how many people can actually say they fell in love with an angel?"

Rafe moved closer to her, gently brushing his lips with hers. "I think you're right."

"I always am."

Rafe laughed. "Come on. Let's go to bed."

Rafe rose to his feet, switching off the lamp on his daughter's nightstand.

Alison tightened the blankets over her daughter one last time as she gently kissed her forehead. Then she took Rafe's arm, and they quietly left the sleeping child alone, her head filled with wonderful dreams and fairy tales.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay, if you girls don't mind a Christmas story even if it's after Christmas, then it's totally fine with me :-)

The first part of this chapter, I'll warn you, is kinda sad. Might make you cry. But I make up for it in the second part. That scene is totally cute! And that's going to make you smile. I guarantee it.

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm really happy to hear that you all are enjoying the story.

Oh, and Mandi! So glad you found my story ;-)

Well…HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope 2005 is a great year for everyone!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

_Horse noises_

"Giddy up, horsy!" Katrina shouted, running around the living room with her stick horse. She pressed the little button inside the horse's ear, making the horse neigh again.

Katrina went around the couch one more time, then headed to the kitchen. Alison stood at the counter fixing dinner, while Rafe sat at the table writing something.

"Hey, Daddy! Look what I can do! Giddy up!" Katrina ran around the table a few times, pressing the horse's ear repeatedly _Neigh! Neigh! Neigh! TROT, TROT, TROT!_

"Whoa, Nelly!" Katrina shouted, as she stopped in front of her father. "This horse is crazy! He doesn't wanna stop!" Katrina laughed.

"Katrina, why don't you take the horse into the living room to play?" Alison said.

Katrina ignored her mother, climbing into the chair beside her father. "Daddy?"

"Mmm hmm?"

"You forgot something."

Rafe looked up from his paper and turned to Katrina. "What, Princess?"

"The house! I thought you said we were gonna put some Christmas lights on it today."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Princess. I did forget. We'll do it tomorrow, okay?"

"No, let's do it now!"

"No, it's already dark out."

"Aww," Katrina pouted. "No fair."

"Katrina, go play in your room. Your father has work to do."

Katrina looked at her father, whose attention was back to his notebook. Then she looked at her mother, who was busy cutting vegetables on the cutting board.

Katrina frowned, hopping off the chair and leaving the room. She left her horse behind. She didn't feel like playing anymore.

As Katrina walked to the living room, she got the feeling that something just wasn't right.

Daddy promised her they would put the lights on the house today, and he _never_ broke a promise! How could he forget?

And Mommy never told her to leave the kitchen and play somewhere else.

What was going on?

Katrina walked over to the small table against the wall. She got to the floor and crawled under it. Here, she decided, would be the place she'd stay for the rest of the night. If her parents didn't want to see her, then fine! She'd just hide from them all night long.

She occupied herself by looking at the spider webs underneath the table. There sure were a lot of them. Thankfully no spiders though. Ugh. She didn't like spiders!

As Katrina ran her fingers along the wall, wiping off dust that had settled there, she heard bits and pieces of her parents' conversation. She didn't know what they were talking about, but whatever it was, it seemed to make them really upset.

"Maybe this Landonjerk can find another location for his pharmaceutical company."

"Doubtful, Alison. From what I hear, he has his heart set on the riverfront. And even if he were to move his business elsewhere, you're forgetting…we still don't have enough money to operate it. Where are we going to get that kind of money from? The whole center was grant funded. And now that's gone."

"Well I don't know. Maybe you could get some local support. I'm sure the community would want to help out. I know the church would. They already do a lotfor the center."

"You know, Alison, it's just too late. This news came too fast and there's nothing we can do to stop it now."

"I'm sorry, Rafe."

"I've had enough of talking about this for one night. Let me know when dinner is ready, alright?"

"Okay."

Katrina watched as her father walked past her, not realizing she was under the table.

Rafe walked over to the Christmas tree, touching a few of the ornaments. Then he walked over to the couch, sitting down, closing his eyes.

Katrina crawled out from under the table and quietly crept to her room. She suddenly had an idea.

A little while later, Katrina walked back into the living room, a paper in her hand. She saw her father still sitting on the couch, looking exactly the same as he did before. She went over to the couch, climbing up beside him.

"Hi, Daddy."

Rafe opened his eyes, smiling at the way the soft sound of Katrina's voice could make him happy.

"Hey, Princess."

"I made something for you."

"Oh you did?"

"Daddy, look. I drew you a picture. See? There's me. There's Mommy. And there's you. We're decorating our Christmas tree."

Rafe smiled, thinking of that evening the three of them spent together. "I love your picture, Princess."

"You can take it to work. You can stick it to your filing cabinet with a magnet like you did with my other picture."

"I will. Thank you." Rafe put his arm around his little girl and kissed her head.

"Daddy, why are you so sad? It's Christmastime. You're supposed to be happy."

Rafe thought he had been doing a good job of hiding his emotions, but kids were so perceptive. It seemed like you could never hide things like that from them. They always knew.

"I'm sad because…well, I'm sad because I lost something very important to me." Rafe decided he'd already lost the center. There was no chance he'd get it back now anyway. The paperwork had already been signed.

"Did you lose your ring?" Katrina asked.

"My ring?"

"I lost my ring."

"You did?"

"Yeah. The blue one. The one Danny gave to me out of his Cracker Jack box. He said he didn't want it because it was a girl toy, but I loved it. I wore it all the time. Mommy said not to take it outside, but I did anyway. And then I lost it. I was so sad."

"I'm sorry you lost your ring, Princess." Rafe held up his hand, showing Katrina his wedding band. "Well, I didn't lose my ring, but you have the right idea. When you lose something very special, it does make you sad."

"What did you lose, Daddy?"

"Something that's a lot bigger than a ring, but it's going to make me sad just the same." Rafe looked down at his daughter, staring up at him with her pretty blue eyes, giving him her undivided attention. Rafe had been tired of talking about this tonight, but he realized he had to tell Katrina. This affected her too.

He decided to put it into words she could understand. "Well, let me explain it to you this way. You know that grinch movie you love so much?"

"Yeah."

"Well you know how the grinch sneaks into everyone's home and steals all of their Christmas things?"

Katrina nodded. "Yeah."

"Well that's sort of what's happening to me right now. You see, there's this grinch, and instead of taking away our Christmas things, he's decided that he wants to take away the youth center."

Katrina looked confused. "How's he going to do that? You can't move a big building. Unless you're like a giant or something."

"No, Princess. He's not taking it anywhere. It's just not going to be a youth center anymore. The building is going to be torn down."

Katrina's eyes widened in shock. "The _whole_ building?!"

"Afraid so."

"But what about the pool?! And what about the big playground and swings and the big jungle gym?"

"Those will be gone too."

"But if they tear it down, we can't go there anymore."

"I know, Princess. And that's why I'm sad."

Katrina frowned. "That makes me sad too." Katrina leaned against her father as he put his arm around her. They sat that way for a moment or two.

Then, Katrina lit up, smiling as she looked at her father. "Maybe he'll change his mind! Maybe he'll decide to give it back and be nice!"

"I wish it were that way, Princess, but I don't think so."

Katrina frowned again. If Daddy didn't think so, then he was probably right.

"Hey, you two. Dinner's ready," Alison said, peeking her head into the living room.

And even though they all sat down at the kitchen table together, no one felt like eating.

* * *

Rafe had made a promise to his daughter, and he was determined to keep that promise. He felt so bad about forgetting it yesterday.

"Come on, Daddy! Hurry up!" Katrina shouted, jumping up and down in the snow.

"Hang on, Princess," Rafe called from the garage. Rafe looked over at Katrina, and he had to laugh. He could hardly see her face. Alison had bundled her up so tightly with her heavy coat, hat, scarf, and gloves.

A few moments later, Rafe came out with a ladder, propping it up against the house.

"Wow! Big ladder! Can I go up it, Daddy? Please!" Katrina begged, even though she already knew what her father's answer would be.

"Two rules," Rafe began in a stern voice. "No climbing _up_ the ladder, and no walking _near_ the ladder. Understand?"

"Okay. But I wanna help you, Daddy!"

Rafe smiled. "You can. Follow me. I have a big job for you to do."

Katrina squealed with delight as she followed her father back into the garage. She loved it whenever someone would give her a "big job" to do! It made her feel like she wasn't just a little kid.

Rafe had never been too crazy about Christmas yard decorations. Every year since he and Alison had lived in this house, they always decorated it with some tasteful lights above the door and windows, and some for the small bushes, and that was it. Nothing over the top, nothing too skimpy, but just enough.

But this year, Katrina practically _begged_ to get some more things after seeing what all of the neighbors on the block were doing. So Rafe gave in, and he let his daughter pick out her favorites.

"Alright, you see all of these things?" Rafe asked, showing her the plastic reindeer, the giant snowman, the candy cane poles, and all of the other decorations that she insisted their yard needed to have. "I need your help in finding a good place for all of this stuff. How about you go do that?"

"Okay!" Katrina happily grabbed a little brown reindeer, then ran to the middle of the yard to find a good spot for it.

As Katrina worked on the yard, Rafe began putting up the lights. He remembered the first year he did this, when Alison thought he couldn't do it by himself and called Jack over to come help. But Rafe felt he was getting the hang of this now. It got easier every year. And now, he had Katrina as a helper.

"Uhh! Come on, you big fat snowman!" Katrina said as she attempted to drag the snowman out of the garage.

Alison laughed, standing in the doorway. "You need some help, baby?"

"This is one fat snowman! I can't pick him up!"

"Okay, we'll get this together." Alison picked up the snowman, and Katrina helped carry it from the bottom. Together, they carried it out to the middle of the yard. "There. That looks like a good spot for it."

"You like the yard, Mommy? I did it all by myself!"

"I'd say you did a wonderful job!"

"Hey, Daddy! You almost done?"

Rafe looked down, smiling at Katrina and Alison. "Almost!"

"It's looking good, Rafe!"

"I just have this one section to put up and then I'll be finished."

"Mommy?" Katrina tugged on Alison's coat.

"What is it, baby?"

"We forgot to get another snowman!"

"Well, baby, I think we only need one."

"No, a girl one! Frosty's lonely!"

"Oh, I see. Well, you know what?"

"What?"

"I think we can fix this problem right now. How about we make a snow woman for him?"

Katrina liked that idea. "Yeah!"

Alison and Katrina began working on the snow woman, and when Rafe finished putting the lights on the house, he joined in.

Alison decided they could use an old apron of hers to tie around the snow woman's waist, and Katrina had a flower hat that went along with her dress up clothes. Using that, as well as some raisons and candy, and or course, a carrot, they created the snow woman's face and buttons.

Katrina jumped up and down, excited to see their creation finished. "Look, Frosty! It's your girlfriend! Now you won't be lonely _anymore_!"

Rafe and Alison laughed.

"Well, I'm going to take that ladder back to the garage."

Once Rafe was out of earshot, Alison whispered for Katrina to come closer. She whispered something in her ear, to which Katrina responded by giggling.

When Rafe walked back out into the yard, he was puzzled. It looked as if Katrina and Alison had gone inside. He didn't see them anywhere. And just as he was about to call out their names, he felt it hit his face.

_Cold. Wet. Snow._

Rafe turned to the direction the snowball came from. He heard stifled laughter from behind the bushes and two sets of blue eyes looking at him.

Rafe marched over to them, wiping the snow from his face. "Okay. Which one of you threw the snowball?"

Katrina couldn't help herself as she laughed and laughed. "MOMMY!"

Rafe looked Alison in the eyes, giving her a devious grin. "You do know that you're going to get it, don't you?"

"You're going to have to catch me first!" Alison shouted, suddenly taking off, running away from Rafe as fast as she could.

Rafe was right behind her, chasing her all over the front yard, across the driveway, then around the house one time.

Katrina couldn't stop laughing. Sometimes her parents were just too funny!

And finally, Rafe had outsmarted Alison. He popped out from behind the car, surprising her as he grabbed her. They tumbled to the snowy ground.

"I got you," Rafe said triumphantly.

Alison didn't seem to mind. She closed her eyes and turned her head up as Rafe placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

The moment was soon interrupted, however, by several small snowballs being hurled their way. "Snowball fight!" Katrina shouted.

"Come here, you!" Rafe said, getting up from the ground to catch Katrina. He was much faster than her, and soon he brought Katrina down to the ground with them. Katrina laughed as Rafe tickled her.

The three of them were a sight, all laying down in the snow in the front yard, and laughing.

"Hey, we can make snow angels!" Katrina suggested. She wiggled her way out of her father's grasp and moved over a couple of feet. She lay down in the snow, moving her arms and legs about.

Rafe and Alison smiled at each other. The moment couldn't have been more perfect. They got up from the ground, lying down next to Katrina.

"Ready?" Rafe asked.

"Yep," Alison answered.

They laughed as they moved their arms and legs about, each thinking the same thing.

"_Snow angels! You know, not to brag, but mine is perfect." _

_"Oh, well, note to self -- angels are competitive."_

Rafe stood up, giving Alison a hand as she got up off the ground. The three of them looked down to the ground.

Three perfect snow angels were formed.

"Ooo! So pretty! We make the bestest snow angels!"

Rafe and Alison laughed. If there was one thing they had definitely passed on to her, it was that. How to make the perfect snow angel.

"Ooo! Daddy! The lights! We gotta turn them on!!"

Rafe looked up to the sky, realizing how quickly time had passed. It was beginning to get dark. Perfect timing. "Alright, let me go turn on the switch."

Alison and Katrina waited patiently in the yard.

"Ready?" Rafe called out.

"Ready!" Alison said.

"Okay, here we go!"

And then, the house was lit. Little golden lights were everywhere, giving the house the appearance that Christmas was certainly near.

"It's beautiful, Rafe," Alison said, putting her arms around him as he walked over towards them.

"It's so pretty!"

Together, the three of them admired the lights.

And then, one of them decided it was time for another snowball fight.

"Katrina!" Rafe and Alison said together.

Katrina just laughed, running away as her parents chased after her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Alison shivered, pulling her coat closer to her as she walked into the house. "It's freezing out there."

"Where'd you go?" Rafe asked as he walked into the room.

Alison held up several sales papers and envelopes. "I just realized we forgot to check the mail today."

"Oh. Anything good?"

Alison shook her head. "No. Just junk and bills. Oh wait, we got a Christmas card from Eve and Ian." Alison opened the envelope with her nail and took the card out. It had a beautifully decorated Christmas tree on it. "Oh, it's actually an invitation. Looks like they're having a Christmas party next Saturday."

"Daddy!!"

Rafe and Alison looked towards Katrina's room at the sound of her screams.

"I'll get her," Rafe said. "Probably having a nightmare or something."

Rafe walked down the hallway to Katrina's room and opened her door. His eyes adjusted to the light of her nightlight. "Princess?" At first, he didn't see her, as Katrina was completely under the covers. But slowly, her little blonde head poked out from the layer of blankets.

Rafe had a good guess at what was bothering her. "Is he back?"

Katrina nodded. "I'm scared, Daddy."

Rafe walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. "Don't be scared. Daddy's here, and that's what a daddy's job is…to keep his little girl safe."

Katrina started to feel better already. She wasn't so scared of the monster when Daddy was here.

"Now, where was he last?"

Katrina pointed towards the window. "Over there, by the window. He tapped the glass, and then he went, '_Woo woo. Woo woo.'"_

Rafe was sure it was just the wind she had heard, but his daughter had quite the imagination. She'd never believe it was _just the wind._

"Well have no fear," Rafe said, standing up and walking towards the window. "If there's one thing monsters are afraid of the most, it's your dear old dad!"

Katrina smiled. Her daddy was the best at scaring away monsters that bothered her at night.

Rafe walked over to the window to investigate. He looked behind the toy box and around the curtains. "Well, he's not over here anymore."

"Look under the bed!"

Rafe got on the floor, lifting up the comforter to look under the bed. "All clear. Let me check that closet."

Katrina watched as her father walked over to the closet and opened the door. He kneeled down on the floor, sticking his head into the closet to investigate. Katrina looked on, holding on to her blanket tighter.

"AH HA!" Rafe bellowed, making a big production, pretending to grab something. He then turned around to his daughter with a big grin. "Got him."

"Yay! Thank you, Daddy!"

Rafe walked back over to Katrina, tucking her back under the covers. "He shouldn't be bothering you anymore tonight."

"'Cause he's afraid of you, Daddy."

"That's right. Goodnight Princess." Rafe gave his daughter a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Daddy."

Rafe paused at the doorway, seeing his daughter turn over in bed and closing her eyes. He quietly closed the door behind him.

"She okay?" Alison whispered, meeting Rafe in the hallway.

"She's fine. Monster problems. But I took care of it."

Alison smiled, wrapping her arms around Rafe. "Well lucky for her she has a slayer for a father."

"Trained to fight all forces of evil…real or imaginary."

"Well the imaginary I can handle. Let's just hope we never have to deal with the real ones again."

"You don't have to worry. You'd know I'd take care of it."

Alison smiled, moving close to Rafe and kissing him. "Come on. Now that she's in bed, I think we should do the same."

Rafe frowned. "Well that's a little disappointing. Sleep wasn't on my mind right now."

Alison grinned. "Who said anything about sleeping?" Alison took Rafe's hand, leading him to the bedroom.

* * *

"I want some more syrup!" Katrina begged, trying to reach the syrup bottle in the center of the table.

Rafe picked it up, squeezing some of it onto her plate. "Just a little bit. That's all you need."

"And when I finish all of this syrup, then I can have some more, Daddy?"

Alison walked into the kitchen, overhearing their conversation. "No, when you finish that syrup, you're getting ready for school. We're running late."

"I don't wanna go to school today."

"Well baby, I'd take you to work with me but I think you'd be bored all day." Alison kneeled down to tie Katrina's shoe, which had come loose for the second time this morning.

"No I wouldn't. I could help you bake some cakes and we could lick all the batter from the bowls, and then we could taste test _all_ the cookies!"

Alison laughed. "Oh yeah, my customers would really like that!" she said sarcastically.

"So can I, Mommy?"

"No. Not today."

Katrina turned to her father. "Daddy, I wanna go to work with you!"

"Baby, I think Daddy's got some things to do today."

Rafe looked up from his newspaper. "Actually, I don't have that much to do today."

Katrina's eyes widened with excitement. "Can I spend the day with you, Daddy?!"

Rafe smiled. "Are you _sure_ you don't want to go to preschool and play with all of your friends?"

"No. I don't wanna go to school today. I wanna spend the day with my daddy! Because I love my daddy!"

Well how could he say no to that? "Okay. It's just you and me today, Princess."

"Yay!"

"Okay, then! You two have fun." Alison leaned over and gave Rafe a kiss. "I'm going to head to work now. Maybe I won't be late today!" Alison leaned over and kissed Katrina's cheek. "Bye, baby."

"Bye, Mommy."

"Love you both!"

"Love you," Rafe said.

"Daddy?"

"What, Princess?"

Katrina pushed her plate closer to him. "More syrup!"

* * *

"Katrina, come on and get your coat. Let's get ready to go," Rafe called out, putting on his own coat and grabbing his wallet and keys.

Katrina ran into the living room, holding up a hairbrush. "No, Daddy. We can't leave yet. You haven't fixed my hair!"

_Hair? He was supposed to fix her hair?_ "Katrina, didn't your mother already take care of that for you?"

Katrina shook her head no. "No, Daddy. You're supposed to do it today."

"Um, okay, come on." Rafe walked over to the couch, taking the hairbrush from his daughter.

Rafe hesitated as he began brushing her long, blonde hair. He really didn't know much about hair. Well, girls' hair anyway. All Rafe needed for his hair was a comb, but he could never figure out why it was necessary for Alison to spend a half hour on hers, or why she needed all kinds of hair products and gadgets for it.

_This isn't so hard_, Rafe thought to himself as he brushed Katrina's hair. It was longer hair than he was used to brushing, but he seemed to be getting the hang of it. Then suddenly, the brush hit a snag.

"Oww!"

"Oh, Princess! I'm sorry!"

"You gotta be careful with the tangles, Daddy. You're supposed to brush out all the knots."

"Sorry, Princess. I'm not as good at this like Mommy." Rafe started again, being as gentle he could, hoping he wouldn't pull on her hair anymore.

And finally, he was finished. "Okay, there we go. All done."

"No, Daddy. Now you've got to put my hair bows in." Katrina held up two elastic hair bows and placed them in his hand. "I want pigtails."

_Pigtails?_ "You mean a ponytail?"

"No, it's like a ponytail on each side." Katrina grabbed some hair from each side of her head to show her father. "See? Pigtails."

"Oh. Okay. Gotcha." Rafe carefully separated her hair into two sections. He gathered one side, pulling it together and wrapping the bow around it.

"No, Daddy. You're doing it wrong. It's supposed to be high up. Like Mommy does it."

"Oh. Okay." Rafe attempted again, moving the section of hair closer to her ear. "Like that?"

"Yeah." Katrina began scraping the pink nail polish off her nails, wondering why Daddy was taking so long. Mommy _never_ took this long to do her hair.

"Okay, I'm just about done." Rafe finished twisting the second hair bow around her hair. It was a little lopsided, and not exactly even with the other side, but it would have to do.

"Okay, grab your coat, Princess. Let's go."

"Where are we going, Daddy? To your work?"

"Yeah, we'll head over there later. But right now, I've got some errands to run."

"What's errands?"

"Zip your coat up. It's cold. An errand is just a place you have to go, or something you have to do."

Katrina stopped at the door, looking up at her father. "Uh oh."

"What's the matter?"

"I've got an errand to run!"

"Oh yeah?"

"I gotta go _run _to the bathroom!"

With that, Katrina unzipped her coat, threw it on the floor, tossed her gloves aside, and ran to the bathroom.

Rafe sighed. Now he was beginning to understand why Alison was always running so late.

* * *

The moment Lucy walked into the Recovery Room, she saw Katrina turn around in her seat and run to her.

"LUCY!" Katrina wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Well hey there, peanut! What are you doing here?"

"Hanging out with Daddy. We're gonna have cheeseburgers and fries for lunch!"

"Ooo, well good for you!"

"Come sit with us!" Katrina took Lucy's hand, leading her over to their table.

"Hey, cousin," Rafe said.

"Hey! It's so good to see you."

"Pull up a chair."

Lucy grabbed a chair from the unoccupied table next to theirs, then moved it over to sit with Rafe and Katrina.

"So what are you two up to today?"

"Daddy and me are spending the day together!"

"Well I can see that. I bet Daddy did you hair too, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Katrina moved closer to Lucy and whispered in her ear. "He doesn't know how to do hair very good."

Rafe had heard her comment anyway, as Katrina was a very loud whisperer. "Hey. I tried."

Lucy laughed. "Come here, let me fix it."

Katrina moved to sit in Lucy's lap, while Lucy fixed the lopsided pigtail.

"Here are your cheeseburgers and fries," the waitress said, sitting the food down on the table.

"Thank you," Rafe said to the waitress.

"Alright! I'm hungry!" Katrina added.

"Can I get you anything ma'am?" she asked Lucy.

"I'll have a salad and diet soda."

"Alright, I'll bring that in just a few minutes."

Katrina moved back to her seat, digging into her French fries.

Lucy turned to Rafe, seeing the sadness in his eyes. "Hey, I'm sorry I was in such a rush the other day on the phone. We really haven't had a chance to talk. Rafe, I'm so sorry about the center."

"Thanks, Lucy."

"When are they closing it down? I mean, we have some time, right?"

Rafe shook his head. "January first."

"The _first_? _That soon?_"

"Afraid so."

"Well that stinks!"

"I think I'll just go ahead and shut the center down early. Maybe after Christmas. I mean, it's not like the kids are going to be there anyway. They'll be with family. Going on trips. You know."

Lucy frowned. "You know what your problem is?"

Rafe looked up, a bit surprised at Lucy's tone of voice. "What?"

"You give up too easily! You're just going to sit there and throw in the towel?! Just give up? Come on! That youth center and those kids are important to you! And you're just going to let them take it away?"

"Well what am I supposed to do, Lucy?" Rafe asked, getting a bit defensive. "Go to Thomas Landon and say, "Hey, I know you want to put your drug company here and that making a lot of money is important to you, but could you not build it here after all? And while you're at it, maybe you could spare a few thousand dollars to fund the center? Thanks."

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Well, Lucy, please, enlighten me."

"Look, all I'm saying is that you can't just sit here on your butt and do nothing. Don't let that Landon what's his name win. You fight back! And you know what else?"

"What?"

"You've got to have faith. The impossible _does_ happen. I'm proof of it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Definitely. I mean, come on, I thought I'd _never_ marry Doc! But somehow, someway, the impossible happened! Who knows? Maybe this year, we'll get another Christmas miracle!"

Rafe smiled. If Lucy had only known what he'd went through to get them together. There were times when he thought getting Kevin and Lucy to walk down the aisle was impossible too, but he did it.

And of course, there were times when he thought it would be impossible for he and Alison to be together. But they did that too.

Maybe it wasn't so hopeless after all.

"Thanks, Lucy. I think I really needed to hear that."

Lucy smiled. "If you need my help with anything, you just let me know!'

* * *

Katrina wandered around the youth center, bored out of her mind.

Daddy was in his office, making a lot of phone calls, and doing a lot of stuff on his computer.

Katrina picked out a book from the shelf, then stepped inside her father's office.

"Daddy, will you read this to me?"

Rafe looked away from his computer screen. "Not right now, Princess. I've got some things to do."

"Daddy, I'm bored!"

"Why don't you go play? You can take out the toys on the shelves."

"But there's no kids to play with."

"The kids will be here soon. I'm sure until then, you can find something to do."

Katrina was about to protest, but the phone rang, and her father answered it.

Katrina sighed, walking out of the office and back to the playroom. She sat at the little round table, looking at the book she picked out.

And then, she heard voices. Were the kids here?

Katrina tossed the book aside, walking out of the room and peeking her head down the hallway. It was then that she saw them. Not children. Two men. Strangers. Katrina decided to watch quietly.

The first man was really tall, with dark hair. He didn't look too friendly.

The second man was shorter, but a lot bigger, and sort of bald. And he didn't look too friendly either. He followed the first man around.

"This place is a lot bigger than I thought," the first man said, taking a look at the entryway. Maybe we won't have to tear it down after all. We could use this space."

"Well the gymnasium section is going to have to come down," the second man added.

"Oh of course. But we could use this section of the building. Office space or something. Of course, then again, this building is pretty old. It might be better to just start off fresh. Besides, does this building have a strange smell to you?"

"Yeah. Like school or something. We can work on some plans this weekend."

The first man walked around the building, peering in and out of rooms. "Yeah, this'll have to come down. I can see it already. The expansion of Landon Pharmaceuticals is just beginning."

Katrina gasped. Where had she heard that before? _Landon?_ And then she realized…he was the grinch! Well, she _had_ to stop him then!

As the two men made their way down the hallway, Katrina stopped in front of them, holding her hands out and blocking their path. "No! You can't get by! Go away!"

Landon laughed. He had never been spoken to in that tone of voice by a little girl. He found it rather amusing. "Well hi there, Princess. I'm just looking around here, that's all. I can look around, right?"

Katrina became angrier. "No one can call me _Princess_ but my daddy! And you better go away or my daddy's gonna beat you up! You're a _grinch_!"

Landon laughed even harder. He looked to the bald man. "Did she just call me a grinch?"

"My daddy says that's what you are and if you don't get out of here, you're gonna be sorry!"

Landon kneeled down to Katrina's level, giving her a cold look. "Well don't you have a smart mouth for such a small thing? You better be careful of what you say, little girl. Santa puts lumps of coal in the stockings of children with smart mouths."

"Don't you EVER speak to my daughter that way again," Rafe said, staring at the man angrily.

Katrina ran to her father, hugging his leg as she burst into tears. "Daddy! That man said Santa was gonna put coal in my stocking!"

Rafe scooped Katrina up into his arms, his eyes glaring at him. "Get out."

Landon smirked. "Look, I'm sorry I upset the kid. Kovich? Right? Thomas Landon." He offered his hand, but Rafe refused to accept.

"I know who you are."

"Well then you won't mind if I take a look around?"

Rafe moved in front of him, blocking his path. "Actually, I _do_ mind. You're not welcome here."

"Well actually, for your information, this place belongs to me. So I'm entitled to look around."

"Not yet, you don't. If you want to look around, that's fine. But you won't do it on my time. Now you've made my daughter upset, and you've made me angry. And in just a few minutes, a busload of children will be arriving here and I really doubt they're going to want to see the man who intends to tear this place down. Get the hell out."

Landon sighed, giving his associate a frustrated look. "Come on, let's get out of here. I hate kids," he muttered, walking out of the door.

"You okay, Princess?"

Katrina sniffed. "I don't like that man."

"Me neither. I'm sorry he made you so upset."

"Is Santa really gonna put coal in my stockings because I was mean to him?"

"Oh, no! No, Princess! Don't you listen to him. Santa is _not_ going to put coal in your stocking. In fact, if anyone is going to get a lump of coal, it's him. Okay?"

"Yeah! He'll get a big fat piece of coal!"

"You want me to read that book to you now?"

Katrina nodded.

Rafe kissed his daughter on her cheek, hating to see his daughter still so upset. He wasn't sure if he could save the center, but he was certain that no matter what happened, he was going to make sure his little girl was happy.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"This whole situation is just a complete mess, Lucy," Alison said as she walked around from behind the counter with a small tray of Christmas cookies. She sat the tray down at the small table and joined her. "I just don't know what to do. At first, I figured maybe if we could meet this guy, we could at least reason with him; convince him that tearing down a place that kids love is a terrible thing to do. But apparently this guy doesn't have an ounce of compassion in his heart."

"He certainly sounds a jerk."

"That's putting it nicely. He made her cry, Lucy." Alison looked over at the table against the wall, watching Katrina and Christina having cookies and milk as they played some kind of card game. "I don't like to see my baby upset."

The bell on the door jingled, and Alison and Lucy looked up.

Lucy smiled. "Hey, Pumpkin head! Did you have a good day at school?"

Serena rolled her eyes. Mothers. Here she was, sixteen years old, and her mother was _still_ calling her by her childhood nickname. "_Mom_."

"I'm sorry. I forget sometimes. _Serena,_ how was your day?"

Serena threw her purse down on the table and pulled up a chair. "It was awesome! The fire alarm kept going off at the end of third period and we completely missed our geometry quiz!"

"Well then you'll probably take it tomorrow. So you better study," Lucy said.

Serena turned to Alison. "Can I have a cookie?"

"Oh please." Alison pushed the tray over to Serena. "I'm going to have to throw out these cookies anyway unless we eat them."

"So what are we chatting about?" Serena asked, taking a bite out of a green sprinkled sugar cookie shaped like a tree.

"We're trying to figure out what to do about the youth center," Lucy explained.

"Alison, I'm really sorry to hear it's being closed down. That really sucks."

"Thank you. Yes, it does suck."

"And I was really looking forward to being a lifeguard at the pool next summer."

"Sorry, Serena. You would have made a great one."

Suddenly, Serena lit up. "Hey! I know what you could do!"

"What?" Alison asked, smiling.

"You could do a petition! Yeah! We did one at school. Last month, they tried to take away all of the pep rallies and said we could only have them after school hours, but before, we always had them at the last class period of the day. So we all signed a petition, and they decided to keep them! Maybe if you did a petition, it would work."

"Well that's a good idea, Serena, but I'm not so sure it work. The guy who plans to take over the building isn't so sympathetic and I don't think a few hundred signatures on a piece of paper would change his mind."

"Wait a minute," Lucy said, smiling widely, as a sudden thought came to her mind. "I think Serena is on to something. You're right, a few hundred signatures might not change his mind, but what if it was a few thousand?"

"What do you mean, Lucy?"

"I mean I think Serena has the right idea of getting the community involved. If the public was aware of what was going on, if they knew that some big drug company was moving in and taking away a place where children like to play, well they might just start a protest!"

Alison lit up, suddenly thinking Lucy was now on to something. "Well how exactly would we go about letting the community know of the problem?"

Lucy and Alison looked at each other. "Marissa!" they said in unison.

"I can't believe we didn't think of this before!" Alison rose from her chair and walked behind the counter. She picked up the phone and dialed a number. Alison twisted the phone cord between her fingers, waiting for an answer.

"Port Charles Herald," the voice on the other end said.

"Hi, is Marissa there? Yes I'll hold. Marissa? Hey, it's Alison."

"Alison, hey! How are you?"

"Actually, not so good right now. Listen, I need your help with something."

"Anything. What is it?"

"Well, I really don't want to get into this over the phone. But I need to talk to you. I have a news story for you. Is there any good time where we can get together and talk?"

Marissa did need to catch up on a little paperwork, but she could _always_ make time for a news story, especially for a friend. "Can you meet me here? Say in a half hour or so?"

"Yeah, definitely. I'm closing up the bakery in ten minutes."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Thanks, Marissa."

"What did she say?" Lucy asked.

"She said to meet her at the Herald in a half hour and we could talk about it."

"Oh wonderful! I can see it already. As soon as her story hits the print, there will be no one who'll want to see that youth center closed!"

"I really hope so." Alison looked at her watch. "Well I gotta get ready to close up and meet Marissa. Oh shoot, Rafe just called and said he was running errands, so I can't drop Katrina off at the center. I guess I'll just have to takeher with me."

"Alison, if you want, I could take Katrina home and watch her for a bit while you do that," Serena offered.

"Oh could you, Serena? That would be really great!"

"No problem. Mom, I'm going over to Samantha's house for a little while afterwards. Is that alright?"

"Sure, that's fine. But don't stay out too late."

"I won't."

"And you study for that geometry quiz, you hear me?"

Serena laughed. "I will."

"Well I better get Christina home and get dinner started. Come on, sweet pea."

"Bye, Katrina!" Christina got up for her chair and followed Lucy out the door.

"Mommy. I wanna go home now."

"Well you're in luck. Serena's going to take you." Alison grabbed her daughter's coat and kneeled down, helping her put it on. "Listen, I have to go do some things but I won't be gone long. You listen to Serena and be a good girl, okay?"

"Okay."

"Thank you, Serena."

"You're welcome. Come on, kiddo."

"Hey, Serena! Are we gonna ride in your new car?"

"Yep. See? It's outside."

"Ooo! Can we ride with the top down?!"

"Are you crazy? It's cold!"

"But we're wearing coats!"

"Yeah but you don't ride with the top down in a convertible when it's winter!"

Alison smiled, watching Katrina walk out the door with Serena. But her smiled quickly faded as she thought once again of the situation they were in. She hoped talking to Marissa could help.

* * *

Alison walked into the Herald, seeing a flurry of people running around, looking very busy as they worked on getting the newspaper ready. 

"Alison, over here," Marissa called to her.

Alison walked over to her desk, taking a seat. "Marissa, thanks so much for taking the time to meet me."

"Anytime. So what's this story you wanted to tell me about?"

"It's about the youth center that Rafe runs. It's being shut down."

"What? Why!?"

"Because of two things. One, the grant money that funds the program has run out. And two, someone's already bought the building and plans to tear it down and use it for some pharmaceutical company. You know, it'd be one thing if they had to shut it down due to funding, because I'm sure they could always find another way to keep it open. But then someone takes advantage of the situation."

Marissa scribbled notes down as she wrote. "You have a name for this company?"

"Yeah. Landon. Landon Pharmaceuticals."

"Let me make a call." Marissa picked up her phone and pressed a button. "Hey, Marty? I need you to look up the number and address for a Landon Pharmaceuticals…Thanks." Marissa put down the phone with a smile. "We'll get down to the bottom of this. Tell me everything else you know."

* * *

Katrina was easy to watch. Most of the time, she'd just lie on the floor watching her movies over and over. 

Serena reclined on the couch, her feet propped up on a cushion, the cordless phone at her ear. "I can't believe they broke up either…I know! They were so close! I really thought they would make it."

Katrina got up from the floor and grabbed the remote. She turned the movie off.

"Have you seen that new guy Brandon yet? Oh my god, he's so hot!…He's in my English class! I sit right next to him!"

Katrina climbed over the arm of the chair. "Serena?"

"No, I haven't really talked to him yet. But the other day, I dropped my pencil and he picked it up for me. He smiled at me!"

"Serena?"

"Oh, Samantha, I gotta go. I'll be there soon, okay?…Bye." Serena hung the phone up and sat up. "What's wrong, Katrina? You don't want to watch your movie anymore?"

Katrina shook her head. "No."

"Do you want to play one of your games? You always beat me at Candyland."

"I don't want to play a game." Katrina moved closer to Serena, laying her head against her arm.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

"I'm sad."

"Why are you sad?"

"Because of the grinch who's ruining Christmas."

"That's just a movie, Katrina. In the end, the Grinch learns his lesson and feels sorry for what he did. Then everyone is happy again."

"No, I'm not talking about the movie. I mean the man who's gonna tear down Daddy's youth center."

"Oh, I see. Yeah, he is a real grinch isn't he?"

"I hate him. He's mean. Do you think he'll learn his lesson and not tear it down?"

"I don't know. I certainly hope so."

"I wish we could make him leave us alone. He's a big fat bully!"

"Well hey, you should do what my mom says. She says to have faith."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you have hope. It means that even when you think things are impossible, miracles happen. I've seen it happen before. Maybe we'll get a miracle this Christmas too, who knows!"

Katrina's eyes widened. She suddenly had a GREAT idea! She knew of someone who could make miracles happen. "Yeah!" Katrina suddenly jumped off the couch and ran to her room.

Serena smiled,pickingupher_Seventeen_ magazineand putting her headphones on.

A few minutes later, Katrina ran back into the living room. She was dressed in her coat, hat, and gloves.

"Going outside?" Serena asked.

Katrina walked over to her and took her hand. "Can you take me to the mall?"

"The mall?"

"Yeah! I need to see Santa!"

"Didn't you already see Santa?"

"Yeah. But I need to see him again. Please, Serena!"

"No, I can't take you, kiddo."

"Yes you can. You can drive." Katrina grabbed her purse and keys from the table and handed them to her. "Come on, let's go."

Serena put her keys and purse down. "Katrina, your mom is going to be home in like, ten minutes. And as soon as she gets home, I've got to go. So maybe she can take you, okay? Why don't you go outside and play, alright?"

"Alright," Katrina said unenthusiastically.

Katrina walked outside to the back porch, kicking the snow off the steps.

Maybe Serena wouldn't take her, but she knew that somehow, she HAD to see Santa. And soon.

* * *

Alison had just finished cleaning the kitchen when she heard the knock on the door. Alison quickly dried her hands on the dishtowel, then raced to the living room door. 

She was surprised to see who it was.

"Nana." Alison rolled her eyes, not in the mood for this again. "What do you want?"

"Are you going to invite me in?"

"I suppose so," Alison said, moving aside as her grandmother walked into the house. "What kind of granddaughter would I be making my grandmother stand out in the cold?"

"I don't intend to stay long, Alison. I just came here to apologize."

"Well it's about time."

"Oh, Alison! Really. You don't have to make this difficult."

Amanda walked over to the couch and took a seat. Alison joined her.

"Alison, I wanted to apologize for the remarks I made the other day. I realize now how insensitive and callous they were. It wasn't my intention to insult Rafe or the youth center. It simply came out all wrong. I hope you will forgive me."

"I'm sure it took a lot of guts for you to come all the way over here just to say that."

"Well I mean it. I truly am sorry. So do you forgive me?"

"Okay. I forgive you. But under one condition."

"A condition?"

"Yes. That you realize that the kids are not future thieves and drug dealers. I promise you, they're not!"

"Of course, darling. I understand that."

"I mean, if anything, the kids that _don't_ attend the center, well, they probably are the future drug dealers. But not these kids. They're really special."

"Well they must be. I can see how important this youth center is to you. I'm sorry things have turned out the way they have."

"Thank you."

Amanda smiled. "So does this mean we can continue on with our lives again? Are we back on speaking terms at least?"

"Of course. I love you, Nana."

"I love you, too, darling."

Alison smiled, giving her grandmother a hug. True, her grandmother had her strange ways, and they didn't always get along, but she was the only grandmother she had, and she did love her.

"Nana!" Katrina ran into the room, throwing her crayons and coloring book on the floor as she ran over to her, giving her a hug.

"Hello, Katrina!"

"I didn't hear you come in."

"Well I just came here, darling. And actually, I'm about to leave."

"No, Nana! Stay for a little bit!"

"Well, I suppose I could stay for a little while…"

"Mommy can make some hot chocolate! Can't you, Mommy?"

"Okay, I guess I've been appointed to go make some hot chocolate," Alison said with a smile as she rose to her feet, heading to the kitchen to go make some.

Even though Katrina had been the one to invite Nana to stay, she became bored once she and her mother began chatting.

Katrina sprawled out on the floor in front of the fire, content with her Christmas coloring book. She was very proud of herself, because she was almost finished. Katrina picked up the coloring book to look at the big picture of Santa she had just colored.

"I have to find a way to see you," she whispered softly to herself.

"Well, I had better get going," Amanda suddenly announced as she rose to her feet. "I need to run over to Wyndham's to do some Christmas shopping."

Katrina perked up, overhearing her great-grandmother. She ran over to her. "Nana! Can I go with you?!"

"Well, it's getting late, darling."

"Oh _please_, Nana! I'll be really good, _I promise! _Please?"

Amanda smiled. "Well, I tell you what. If it's okay with your mother, than it's okay with me."

Katrina turned to her mother. "Please, Mommy?"

"Okay, you can go. It'll give me some time to get some things around here done. Thank you, Nana."

"Oh no need to thank me. I shall enjoy spending some time with my great-granddaughter. I'll bring her back in a few hours. Have a good evening, darling."

"You too, Nana. See you later, sweetie."

"Bye, Mommy!" Katrina had already slipped on her shoes and was putting on her coat.

"Don't forget your hat," Alison reminded.

Katrina grabbed her hat and followed Amanda out to the limo waiting in the driveway.

"I love riding in the limo!" Katrina said, hopping into the back as the driver held the door open for her.

Alison closed the door and sighed. The house was quiet now.

She looked at the Christmas tree, beautifully decorated and all lit up. From the outside, everything looked perfect. But Alison could already tell that this Christmas, things wouldn't be as happy as before.

* * *

"Oh look at these beautiful scarves," Amanda said, picking up a few and touching the soft, cottony fabric. "Your mother would love these. Would you like to get this for her?" 

"Uh huh."

"Which one do you like the best?" Amanda held up her two favorites.

"Um…the red one!"

Amanda smiled. "The red one it is. I'll buy this so you can give it to your mother. Now let's see, I shall buy one for Clarice too. She would love a new scarf."

As Amanda was distracted, browsing through the selection of scarves, Katrina walked a few feet away from her.

Looking in the distance, she saw him. Santa! Oh if she could just talk to Santa one more time, she was positive he could make things right again! Santa always made children happy. He could make grownups happy too, right?

Katrina ran back over to Amanda. "Nana, can I go see Santa?"

"Alright. In a few minutes, darling."

Katrina frowned. She hoped Nana wouldn't be too long. It looked like Santa was about to leave soon, and the line was getting much shorter. Katrina tugged on Amanda's coat. "But Nana, if we don't go now, Santa might leave soon!"

Amanda looked down at Katrina, seeing the look on her face. She looked so much like her mother at that age.

It was then that Amanda began to feel guilty. She had made a lot of mistakes in the past when it came to Alison. She hadn't always been there for her as much as she should have been when she was growing up. She was determined to not make those same mistakes with her great-granddaughter.

Amanda then smiled. "All right, dear, let's go."

"Thanks, Nana!" Katrina took Amanda's hand and led her over to where Santa was.

The line was winding down, so fortunately, Katrina didn't have to wait so long this time.

"Who's next?" Santa asked, his voice still just as jolly as it had been before.

One of Santa's helpers smiled at Katrina and picked her up, putting her into Santa's lap.

"Ho, ho, ho! Hello, pretty little girl!"

"Hi, Santa, do you remember me?"

Santa looked down at her. He had seen thousands of children over the past few weeks, and he rarely remembered them individually. But for some reason, he couldn't forget this little girl. There was just something very special about her.

"Ho, ho, ho! Of course I remember you! Santa knows all of the little boys and girls! You are the one who wants a pony!"

Katrina looked up at Santa with sadness in her eyes. "Not anymore, Santa."

"Oh? Well would you like something else for Christmas?"

Katrina shook her head. "I came to tell you that you don't have to get me anything for Christmas this year."

"Well surely you must want _something_."

"My Daddy's really sad. I want him to be happy again. That's all I want for Christmas, Santa."

"Oh, I see."

"Can you make him happy again, Santa?"

"Well why is your daddy so sad?"

"Because the mean grinch is trying to steal from him! And now Daddy's not going to have a job. I heard my Mommy say it."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that. I will certainly be sending well wishes your way for you and your family to have a Merry Christmas, alright?"

"Thank you, Santa."

"And you know what? You're a good little girl for wanting your daddy to be happy. I'm sure you'll still have a good Christmas. Santa always makes sure good little boys and girls get what they want. Merry Christmas!"

Katrina smiled. "Merry Christmas." She climbed off his lap and walked back over to her great-grandmother.

Amanda smiled. "I'm very proud of you, Katrina. What you did was completely unselfish and kind. I see your mother has taught you well."

"Nana, do you think Santa will keep his promise? And Daddy will be happy again?"

"I not only think it. I know it. Keep your chin up. This will be a wonderful Christmas."

Amanda gave her a wink, then took her hand. The scene just moments ago touched her heart in so many ways. She suddenly had the perfect idea. She just hoped it would work.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

A/N:Sorry it's taken awhile to get this chapter out. Between quitting my old job and starting a new one and then getting sick with the flu, it's been a rough couple of weeks! But I know you girls understand. :) Well, enjoy the chapter. Hope you don't mind it's so short but the next chapter will probably be much longer.

Until 13!

* * *

"Uncle J.!" 

"Lil' Spunky!"

Katrina ran over to Jamal with her arms held up high. Jamal scooped her up, holding her high above his head.

"Take me for a ride on your motorcycle!"

Jamal laughed. "Haha, you wish!" Jamal then set her down on her feet, getting a good look at her. "Girl, I thought I told you to stop growing on me! You're like 2 inches taller since the last time I saw you."

Katrina shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, Uncle J. I guess I just can't help it."

Jamal laughed. "Hey, Ali." Jamal walked over to Alison, giving her a light kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, Jamal."

"How are you doing?"

"As well as I can under the circumstances. Oh, but I wanted to tell you. I read the paper today. Marissa did an incredible job with the article. Rafe's been getting phone calls all morning from people who want to help. Please tell her thank you for me."

Jamal smiled. "I will. Yeah, if anything will get the community springing into action to save the center, it'll be Marissa's writing."

"She's good at what she does."

Jamal looked down, feeling Katrina tug on his shirt. "What?"

Katrina grinned at him.

Jamal knew that grin. It meant she wanted something. "Okay, what do you want?"

"A quarter."

"Why do you want a quarter?"

"Because I need some money."

"So you've decided to come to the 'Bank of Jamal', huh?"

Katrina grinned, pointing towards the soda machine. "I want a soda!" she whispered.

Jamal took his wallet out of his back pocket. He took out three quarters and placed them in the palm of her hand. "There you go. That's 75 cents. That's all your getting so make your selection carefully."

"Yes!" Katrina ran over to the vending machine, happily placing the coins into the machine and pushing a button.

"So, Jamal, did you say on the phone earlier that you were going to give me something?" Alison asked.

"Oh yeah, I was." Jamal picked up a key lying on the counter, handing it over to Alison. "I need a favor."

"Your house key?"

"Yeah. Do you think you could check on Marissa's cat, feed her and all? We're going out of town for a while."

"Sure. No problem."

"Thanks. That would really help us out a lot. And if you could check the mail. Oh, and Marissa has a few plants. If you could water those."

"Sure, I can do that. So where are you two going?"

"We're spending Christmas over at her mom's."

Alison smiled. "Ah, Christmas with the in-laws."

"Nah, it's okay. Her mom loves me."

Alison smiled. "Well how could she not? Everyone loves you. Oh so wait, does this mean you're going to miss Kevin and Lucy's big celebration on Christmas Eve?"

"Yeah, but there's always next year. We went to the party last year and I got the feeling that Marissa really missed her folks. I think this will be good for her."

"Well I hope you two have a good time. So when are you leaving?"

"This weekend. And we'll probably be staying until after New Year's, which is why I wanted to go ahead and give Katrina her Christmas present now."

Katrina's head turned at the mention of her name.

"Lil' Spunky, come here."

Katrina ran over to him excitedly. "You got me a present, Uncle J.!"

"Oh course! You know there's no way I'd let Christmas pass without getting something for my baby girl!"

"Oh boy! Mommy, can I open it now? Please!"

"I don't see why not," Alison said with a smile.

"Well actually, it's not even wrapped, so she has no choice," Jamal laughed.

"What did ya get me!" Katrina jumped up and down, waiting for her present.

"Three things."

"Three presents? Wow!"

Jamal reached for a pink child's helmet on the shelf. "Rule number one. You've always gotta play it safe."

"Pink! OOO! I love pink!"

"Let's try this on for size." Jamal put the helmet on her head and fastened the straps. "Ahh, perfect fit! Now, rule number two. You've gotta look cool." Jamal reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It was a pair of children's sunglasses, pink with heart-shaped lenses. "How do you like these?"

"Sunglasses! Look, Mommy! They're hearts!"

Jamal put the glasses on her small face, then stepped back to admire them. "There we go! Miss Hollywood! Wearing her cool new shades and ready for her close-up!"

Katrina laughed.

"Now, rule number three. You've gotta have the wheels. I'll be right back." Jamal went to the back of the bike shop.

Alison tried to see in the backroom, wondering what he was up to.

A few moments later, Jamal came out with a children's riding motorcycle toy.

"WOW!"

Jamal set the small motorcycle down as Katrina ran over to it and hopped on.

"Give it a test drive!" Jamal said.

Katrina pressed on the foot pedal, and the bike began to move. She drove around the bike shop in circles, laughing the whole time.

"Lookin' good, Lil' Spunky! You're a natural!"

"Thank you, Uncle J!" Katrina said as she drove past Jamal for the third time.

Jamal and Alison couldn't help but laugh.

"Rafe's going to kill me, isn't he?"

"Yes." Alison laughed. "Well…you did get her a helmet. Maybe he'll cut you some slack."

"Well when she's sixteen and wants a Harley instead of a car, he'll know who to thank." Jamal laughed.

* * *

"There's my little reindeer!" Rafe said, holding his arms out as Katrina ran to him. 

Katrina had to be the cutest ever, wearing an adorable reindeer headband and a little speck of black paint on her nose. "Daddy! Did you see me!"

Rafe scooped her up in his arms. "Yes I did! I got it all on camera. You were the star of the show!"

"Mommy, did you see me?"

"Yes I did sweetie! You were the cutest reindeer on that stage!"

"I agree, you were wonderful, Katrina!"

Katrina looked over her shoulder, seeing her great-grandmother standing behind her. "Nana, you came!"

"Well I told you I would, darling."

"Did you see me singing?"

"Yes I did. This has been one of the best Christmas shows I've ever attended!"

"Daddy said I was the star of the show!"

Amanda laughed. "Yes, you were! Well, I really have to run. Take care, darling. Alison."

"Bye, Nana," Alison said.

"Bye, Nana!"

"Well, I think in honor of Katrina being the star of the show, this calls for a celebration. What would you like to do, Princess?"

"Um…um…ice cream!"

Rafe gave his daughter a sour look. "Ice cream? I don't know. It's cold."

"It's supposed to be cold, silly!" Katrina laughed. "Cause it would melt if it was hot!"

"Sweetie, I think what Daddy means is that it's a bit too cold outside to have ice cream. We need more of a warm treat."

"Like hot chocolate!"

"Yeah! That's more like it!" Alison looked at Rafe, giving him a smile. "Or maybe even a triple grande hazelnut latte…"

"No!" Rafe said defiantly.

"Rafe!"

"Alison, everything there is overpriced. Who wants to spend over three dollars for a cup of coffee? Even their cakes are like four bucks. It's crazy. Now Kelly's on the other hand, their prices are a bit more reasonable."

"Oh please, Rafe? Please? You could try their gingerbread latte. This is the only time of the year when it's available and I _know_ how much you love gingerbread. Please?"

"Please, Daddy! Please!"

Alison laughed. "Oh come on, are you really going to say 'no' to us both? Please? Come on, don't you love the way it smells in there?"

"Please, Daddy!"

Rafe sighed. He was outnumbered. "Okay. Fine. We'll go to Starbucks."

"Yay!" Katrina cheered.

Alison laughed. "I knew you'd cave." She moved closer to him, giving him a little kiss.

* * *

When the three of them arrived home, it was way past someone's bedtime. 

"No, Daddy! I'm not sleepy yet!"

Rafe turned to Alison, giving her a look. "See, I told you going to Starbucks was a bad idea. Now she's all hyped up on all that sugar from the cocoa and the four dollar cake that she insisted on having and now she'll never get to sleep."

"Yes, but it was _your_ idea to go out and celebrate," Alison said with a laugh.

"Not sleepy! Not sleepy! Not sleepy!" Katrina said over and over.

Rafe turned to Katrina. "Well then if you're not sleepy then I guess you can finish cleaning up your room. You've got a big mess in there."

Katrina put her hand over her mouth, pretending to yawn. "Oh my goodness! I'm so tired all of a sudden! I better go get my jammies on!"

Katrina ran out of the room, and Rafe followed, making sure she was really intending on doing that.

About twenty minutes later, Rafe and Alison had finally got Katrina ready for bed and all tucked in. And looking at the time, they decided to get ready for bed themselves.

Alison picked up the remote, turning on the news as she sat down in bed and began to brush her hair. She hadn't really been paying too much attention to the television, but suddenly, something caught her attention.

Thomas Landon. He was on the news, apparently touting his pharmaceutical company.

"Rafe, come here."

"What is it?" Rafe asked, walking into the bedroom.

"Look." Alison pointed to the television.

"Now there are some who have expressed concern about the fact that they don't want to see the youth center go. How do you respond to that?"

"Well Port Charles has a number of youth centers. This isn't the only one. Plus I hear the local YMCA is actually expanding, so there are plenty of other places for children to go for afterschool activities. But this is really about what Landon Pharmaceuticals can do for the city. It'll give the local economy a much needed boost. And plus, the jobs! We're talking about bringing a number of jobs here. And not to mention that we're helping develop medicines that can save lives. All around this is going to mean very good things for the city of Port Charles."

"Well that sounds great! Reporting for WLPC, this is Tracy Douglas."

Alison flicked off the TV angrily. "The nerve of that jerk. Can you believe him?"

"I can't say it surprises me. Of course he'd go on television to promote his company, making everyone think he's a good guy."

"And just when we were having a good day. We have to see him on the news!"

"Come on, let's not think of him. Not now. We have better things to think of than him at the moment."

"Rafe, what do you think will happen?"

Rafe shook his head. "I don't know."

"I thought things were really looking up for a while, with Marissa's article and all. But now I'm not so sure."

Rafe put his arms around Alison, holding her close. He had wanted to say something to comfort Alison, but the truth was, he wasn't so sure either.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I see you girls got my little inside joke about Starbucks from the last chapter. Hehehe:) You know, I always remember EHP saying how much she loved Starbucks and now I know what's she talking about! I'm seriously addicted to that place now, especially since it's right down the street from my house, but my latte of choice is toffee nut ;) If you haven't tried it, oh boy you should…you're in for a real treat! It's so yummy, and this coming from a person who doesn't usually like coffee! Get it with whip cream! Mmm:)

Anyway, here's chapter 13. You'll get to see a lot of people I haven't had a chance to write about yet. I feel like this chapter is kinda blah and it took FOREVER to write but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.

Aimee, so glad to see a new reviewer…thanks so much for reading!

And thanks to everyone else who is reading too…you girls are so sweet:)

PS: One more thing. Send me some love. It's my birthday:) heheh!

**Chapter 13**

As Alison and Rafe made their way up the Thornhart's walkway for their Christmas party, Katrina ran ahead up to the porch.

"Can I ring the doorbell!" she begged.

"Sure, Princess."

Katrina mashed the doorbell button. She waited a moment, and when no one came to the door, she pressed it multiple times.

"Katrina, that's enough," her father warned.

"Hello!" Eve said, opening the door with a smile on her face.

"Merry Christmas!" Katrina said happily.

"Well Merry Christmas to you, too!" Eve said, kneeling down and giving her a hug. "Alison, Rafe. I'm so glad you could make it. Please, come in!"

"We brought you a little something," Alison said, handing Eve a bakery box.

Eve took the box and grinned. "Is this apple pie?"

"Of course!"

"Oh thank you! It looks delicious. You know this is going to be gone before the night is over, don't you?"

Alison laughed.

"Rafe, Alison, Merry Christmas," Ian said as he walking into the room.

"Merry Christmas," Rafe and Alison said.

Ian looked to the floor, seeing Danny playing with his cars by the Christmas tree. "Daniel, come here."

Danny stood up and walked over towards them.

"Why don't you kids go play?" Ian suggested.

"Hey, Katrina," Danny said.

Katrina's smile grew wider as she batted her eyelashes at the boy. "Hi, Danny," she said sweetly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because I'm a lady, that's why."

Danny looked up to his father helplessly. Why did he always make him play with _girls_? Especially when they acted all weird!

"Well, aren't ya gonna invite me to play?" Katrina asked, still grinning at him from ear to ear.

"I have some video games. You wanna play those?"

"I'd _love_ to, Danny."

"Come on." With that, Danny ran out of the room.

Katrina looked up at the adults, smiling as she held her hand to her heart and sighed deeply. "That boy's cuter than a button!" Then, she took off after him. "Danny, wait for me!"

The adults burst into laughter.

"Shall we start planning the wedding now?" Eve laughed.

Alison laughed with her. "Wedding cakes are my specialty!"

"And I'm really good at making invitations!" Eve laughed again.

"Oh we better stop. We're scaring Rafe!" Alison laughed, holding on to his arm.

Ian looked over to Rafe, seeing how pale he had suddenly become. He couldn't help but laugh. "They're children! Relax."

"Rafe, we're just playing," Alison said.

"You just wait until you have a daughter, Ian. Then you know exactly how I feel."

Ian laughed. "Well I don't know about you, but right now, I think I'd like to dig in to whatever it is that smells so good in that box."

"Help yourself!" Eve said happily, handing him the pie.

Ian and Rafe left the room, leaving the women to chat.

"I guess we're the first ones here. Which is surprising since we're usually late!" Alison said.

"Yeah, looks that way. Karen and Frank said they're on their way but they had to feed the baby first."

"Oh how are they doing? I haven't seen them in a while."

Eve walked over to the couch, inviting Alison to sit down. "They're doing fine. They're just completely exhausted all the time with Nathan and all. He's so cute! I saw him a few days ago. He is a _fat_ baby!"

Alison laughed.

"Oh, did you want some coffee or tea, or some eggnog?"

"Oh I'm fine for now. Thanks. Oh by the way, the house looks great, Eve."

"Thank you. We wanted to make it look really nice, since it's our first Christmas here in the new house."

"Well you did a great job. It's a nice neighborhood too."

"You know, I heard from one of my neighbors that the house down the street might be going up for sale soon. It's that big white one with the big porch and yard? Did you see it?"

"Yes, it's beautiful."

"Maybe you'd like to consider it if it becomes available," Eve said with a smile.

Alison's smile faded. "I don't know. I certainly would like to think about moving into a bigger place. Rafe and I do need more space. But with everything going on, a new house is last on the priority list at the moment."

"I'm sorry. I hadn't even thought of everything you were going through right now. I read the article in the Herald the other day. I'll give you my two cents. This Landon guy…he sounds like a real piece of work. I'm so sorry you have to deal with a jerk like that."

"Thanks, Eve. It's been really hard right now. Rafe's so bummed out about it. It's just a put a damper on the holidays, you know?"

"You know, I have a idea. Maybe Rafe could open up his own youth center. You know? Run it on his terms. Yeah. Then he wouldn't have to worry about some jerk trying to take over it. I mean, you opened up your own bakery, and look how successful that turned out. Rafe could open up his own business too."

Alison smiled. "You know, that's actually a really good idea, Eve. I'll run that by him."

Just then, the doorbell chimed. "Oh, more guests are arriving. Let me get that. Alison, do you think you could turn on some music? I have a Christmas CD in there. It's certainly not going to be a party without some music!"

"Sure."

"Merry Christmas," Karen and Frank said, walking in with Nathan.

"Merry Christmas! Oh my goodness, look at him! Oh come see Auntie Eve!" Eve said, practically taking the baby out of Karen's arms.

Eve and Alison took turns making a fuss over the baby.

"Karen, Frank, he is just darling," Alison said, taking the boy and smelling his head. She loved the ways babies smelled.

"Thank you," Karen said.

Nathan began to get a little fussy, and Alison handed him back to his mother. Almost immediately, the baby began to calm down, happy to be back in his mother's arms. Alison smiled, wondering soon if she would have a little one that could only be comforted by her.

* * *

Danny eyes were glued to the screen as he and Katrina played a video game. Whenever he was this involved, it was hard to get his attention for anything. Suddenly, he stood up and began to shout. 

"YES! YES! I win!" Danny began to dance in victory.

"No fair!" Katrina whined. "I don't like this fighting game!" Katrina threw the controller across the floor and crossed her arms.

"I beat you, I beat you! Na, na, na, na, na, na!"

Katrina stood up, her hands on her hips as she gave Danny a look of attitude. "Oh yeah? Well I can beat YOU at Candyland _anytime_."

"That's a game for _girls_." Suddenly, Danny's eyes grew wider, as the mention of candy gave him an idea. "Hey, you want some candy? I know where we can get some candy canes!"

Katrina smiled, already forgetting about losing the video game. "Yeah!"

"Okay, but we gotta be really quiet. If my mom catches us, we're dead."

"Okay," Katrina whispered.

"Come on. Shh!" Danny put his finger to his lips, reminding Katrina to be quiet and to follow him.

The two made their way to the living room, and were surprised to see that more people had arrived.

This was good, Danny decided. His mother was distracted with all of the guests. She wouldn't catch him. "Come on, they're on the Christmas tree," he whispered.

"Would anyone like some eggnog?" Eve offered.

"That sounds great," Frank said.

"I'll have a glass too!" Mary said.

"Victor?"

"Sure, I'd love some!"

"Great! I'll be right back." As Eve left for the kitchen, she heard a sound. When she turned around, she saw two sets of feet behind the tree. "Danny," she called, knowing exactly what he was up to.

Danny walked out from behind the tree, giving his mother a look of complete innocence. Katrina stood behind him, looking innocent herself.

"What are you hiding behind your back?"

Danny grinned at his mother. "Nothing, Mom."

Eve held out her hand, not believing a word he said. "Hand it over."

"Aww," Danny complained, handing her the candy cane. "But we want a candy cane!"

"Danny, I've told you to stop picking these off the tree. Look, if you want candy, I've got a whole bowl of peppermints on the kitchen table. But stop taking off our tree decorations!" she said with a laugh.

The doorbell suddenly rang again. "Could someone get that?" Eve asked, heading back into the kitchen.

"Oh I will," Alison offered.

With his mother in the other room, Danny grabbed another candy cane from the tree, hiding it in his pocket. He and Katrina snickered, having got away with it.

"Jack, Livvie! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" they said.

"I'm so glad you made it. I thought for sure you'd get here before me since you live closer."

"We would have been here sooner but we spent twenty minutes looking for Charlotte's shoe," Livvie explained.

"Oh, I can relate!" Alison laughed.

"Hey, so where's the food?" Jack asked.

"You're always thinking about your stomach, aren't you?" Livvie asked.

"There's plenty of goodies in the kitchen," Alison said with a laugh.

"Sweet!" Jack rubbed his hands together in anticipation, heading off to the kitchen.

Livvie began helping Charlotte take her coat off.

"Oh, look at Miss Charlotte's new haircut!" Alison said.

"Yeah, got it cut yesterday! Makes things so much easier."

Alison kneeled down to Charlotte's level. "Hi, sweetie! I love your hair! It's so pretty!"

"Charlotte! Charlotte! Charlotte!" Katrina said, running to the little girl and hugging her. "Charlotte's got short hair!" Katrina then proceeded to pick the child up.

"Katrina, be gentle. She's smaller than you," Alison said.

Katrina put her down and then took her hand. "Come on, Charlotte! Come play with us!"

"Livvie!"

Livvie looked up, seeing Victor walk her way.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, Grandpa." Livvie gave Victor a hug. "Is my Dad here yet?"

"He'll be here shortly. He and Lucy were going to pick up the girls from Scott's."

"Victor, your eggnog," Eve said, handing him a glass.

"Oh thank you, dear!"

"Merry, Christmas, Livvie. So glad you could make it!" Eve said.

"Hey, Eve. Merry Christmas to you too!"

"Enjoy the party!"

* * *

Livvie walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch beside Alison. "Did you try this eggnog yet? It's really good!" 

"Can't. It's got the alcohol."

"Oh! Oh that's right! I totally forgot!"

"Yeah, I don't want to risk it."

Livvie smiled. "So do you know anything yet?" she whispered.

Alison looked around, making sure Rafe wasn't in hearing distance. "Actually, I haven't told Rafe yet, but I'm late."

Livvie gasped. "Alison!"

"Shh!"

"Oh. Sorry!"

"I don't know for sure yet. But I want to wait a few days. And I don't want Rafe to know yet because I don't want to get his hopes up too soon. I'm just going to wait and see."

"This is so exciting. I'm so happy for you."

Alison smiled. "I've got my fingers crossed that at least one thing will go right this Christmas." Alison looked up, seeing Rafe walk back into the living room. "Good pie?"

"The best." Rafe joined Alison and Livvie on the couch. "Hey, Livvie."

"Hey, Rafe. Wow, you're lucky you got to the pie before Jack. If we'd gotten here first, there wouldn't be any left." Livvie laughed.

"Oh but that's okay," Rafe grinned. "She makes me pie at home." Rafe turned to Alison, giving her a kiss.

Just then, Ian walked into the room, carrying a large box with a train set on it. "Hey, kids, you want to set the train up?"

"The train!" Danny got up from the floor and ran over to his father.

"Ooo! Is it a_ moving_ train!" Katrina jumped up and down excitedly.

"Yeah, it moves all by itself! We put it around the tree. But we have to set the track up first," Danny explained.

Ian set the box down and opened it. The kids immediately began to dig in.

"That's a nice train set, Ian. Where did you get it?" Rafe asked.

"A few years ago when the three of us went up to the mountains. I bought it at some gift shop. We've been putting it around the Christmas tree ever since. Sort of a tradition now."

Katrina picked up two pieces of track. "How you do it?"

Danny took the track pieces out of her hand and showed her. "You gotta snap it together. Like that. See?"

"Oh, okay!"

"You start the track at that end and I'll start at this end." Danny gathered several track pieces, then moved to the other side of the tree.

Katrina picked up two pieces of track, snapping it together just as Danny showed her. Then she connected it to the other pieces.

"Me do it!" Charlotte ran over to Katrina, picking up the part of the track that she had just put together and taking it apart.

"No, Charlotte! You're messing it up! Aunt Livvie! Charlotte's messing it up!"

"Charlotte, play with the train, okay? Let them build the track first." Livvie handed one of the train cars to Charlotte, and that seemed to make her happy.

After about ten minutes, the track was finally complete. And within a few minutes, the train was assembled and moving along the track all the way around the Christmas tree.

Everyone gathered around to watch the train. The children were very proud to have set it up all by themselves.

"Daddy! Can we get a train too!" Katrina begged.

"We'll see, Princess," Rafe smiled.

Katrina smiled, hoping they too would have a train under their tree on Christmas morning.

* * *

_Later that evening…_

Katrina wandered out into the living room. She had been playing games with Danny and Christina and Charlotte, but she was bored with that now. She wanted to see what the adults were up too.

Charlotte, as always, followed her. Then she ran over to the tree and began to play with the train that was still going around.

Sitting on the couch, Katrina saw Karen and Frank, and the baby! And he was finally awake! Now maybe she could play with him!

Katrina walked over to Frank and Karen. She smiled at the little baby in Karen's arms. "Aww! Hi, baby!"

The baby looked at Katrina and made a gurgling noise, which made Katrina laugh.

"I think Nathan likes you, Katrina," Karen said with a smile.

"Doesn't he ever play? He's done nothing but sleep."

"No, not really. He's too little right now. Pretty much all he does is sleep, eat, and poop."

Katrina laughed. "Can I touch him?"

"Sure."

Katrina reached out and took his tiny hand. "His fingers are so tiny. Like a doll baby!"

"Yeah, they sure are."

"We're going to have a baby too."

Karen and Frank exchanged glances.

"Is that right?" Frank asked with a smile.

"Yep. That's what I asked Santa for! I wanted to ask Santa to bring a baby that doesn't poop but Mommy said babies _have _to poop so we're just gonna make Daddy change the diapers. Cause they _stink_!"

Karen and Frank laughed.

"Katrina, come here!" Christina ran into the room, laughing as she motioned for Katrina to follow her. "Danny and me want to teach you something!"

"Okay." Katrina looked over at Nathan, then giving him a kiss on his head. "Bye, Nathan!"

Katrina ran out of the room. Charlotte, upon seeing Katrina leave, got off the floor and followed.

Karen looked to Frank. "A baby that doesn't poop, huh?"

"Can't say I blame her. Who doesn't want that?" Frank said with a laugh.

"She's a got a good idea. Maybe I should make you change all the stinky diapers."

* * *

Everyone had been talking and laughing out in the living room when suddenly, they heard the sound of bells jingling. 

Charlotte ran into the room, happily jingling some bells. Danny, Katrina, and Christina weren't far behind. They assembled themselves in front of the fire.

"Hey everyone," Danny announced, "You want to hear us sing a Christmas song?"

Everyone was pleasantly surprised, smiling as they gathered in the living room to hear the children sing.

"Yes! Of course!" Eve said, smiling at her son. She wasn't expecting him to want to sing to everyone.

"What are you going to sing, kids?" Kevin asked.

"Oh you'll see!" Christina laughed.

"Ready?" Danny asked the girls.

"Yeah," Christina and Katrina replied.

Then, the children began to sing.

_Dashing through the snow  
In a one-horse open sleigh  
Over the fields we go  
Laughing all the way; _

_HAHAHA!_

_  
Bells on bob-tails ring  
Making spirits bright  
What fun it is to ride and sing  
A sleighing song tonight. _

_Ohh…._

_Jingle Bells!_

_Batman smells!_

_Robin laid an egg!_

_Batmobile broke its wheel and the joker got away, hey!_

_Jingle Bells! _

_Batman smells!_

_Penguin got away,_

_He sticks his nose in Cheerios, _

_And eats them every day!_

_Batman's in the kitchen, _

_Robin's in the hall,_

_Joker's in the bathroom... _

PEEING ON THE WALL! 

"Oookkkkayy!" Eve stood up, clearly embarrassed as she rushed over to Danny and covered his mouth with her hand. "I think that's enough caroling for tonight, kids."

"Aww, Mom!" Danny whined.

"Hey everyone, it's snowing!" Serena called out, looking out the window.

"It's snowing! I'm going outside!" Danny said, running to the coat rack and putting his coat on.

"Me too!" Katrina said, following his lead.

"Me three!" Christina said.

"Wait for me!" Charlotte called, running after them.

And suddenly, all of the children, and even Serena, began to bundle up and head out the door.

It was dark out side, but the parents didn't object. They began to put on their coats too.

Soon, everyone was standing out on front porch, feeling the tiny snowflakes land on their faces and quickly melt.

"I can catch a snowflake on my tongue!" Katrina announced.

"I can do it too!" Christina said.

"Let's have a snowball fight!" Danny suggested.

"Ahh!"'

And suddenly, snow was flying everywhere, and children were laughing and playing.

Alison snuggled up closer to Rafe to warm up. And for the first time that evening, she knew that whatever would happen, things were going to be okay.

* * *

"Jingle bells! Batman smells! Robin laid an egg!" 

"Katrina, that's enough," Rafe said, tired of hearing that same verse over and over again on the way home.

Alison turned around, giving Katrina a smile. "Sweetie, want to watch your movie?"

"Yeah!"

Alison quickly set up the movie and handed Katrina the headphones. As far as she was concerned, DVD players in the backseats of cars had been the best thing since Tivo.

"A perfectly good Christmas carol…forever ruined," Rafe mumbled.

Alison laughed. "Oh, Rafe, the Batman version of that song has been around since I was in school."

Rafe glanced over at Alison, giving her a look that he still didn't approve of it. "Do you realize that now until Christmas, all we're going to be hearing is the alternate version of _Jingle Bells_ that Danny taught her? I think he's a bad influence on her."

Alison laughed. "Rafe, he's six years old! He is like any other first grade boy! I think you're just upset because you've realized tonight that our daughter has her first crush."

"She's a kid. How can she possibly have a crush on someone at this age?"

"Rafe, when I was a kid, I was convinced I'd marry Luke Perry from _90210._ Do you see me married to Luke Perry?"

Rafe smiled a little. "No," he said quietly.

"See? So you have nothing to worry about. Besides, even if Katrina does have a little crush on Danny, it doesn't matter. From what Eve tells me, he sticks his finger down his throat and gags himself anytime he sees kissing."

Rafe laughed a little. "Okay, I see your point. It's just that I don't want her to grow up so fast. I don't ever want her to grow up and wanting to go on dates and stuff like that."

Alison sighed. "I hope for your sake the next one really will be a boy."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're going to have a hard enough time dealing with one teenage daughter let alone two!"

Rafe gave Alison a look, then turned his attention back to the road.

Alison turned to look at Katrina, who suddenly laughed out loud at whatever was on the screen.

Just look at her, she thought to herself. Rafe seemed to do everything he could to keep their little girl from growing up. And even though the last four years had gone by in a blur, they still had a lot more time together. Which was a good thing. Rafe needed all the time he could get to prepare.


	14. Chapter 14

Gracie – hahaha at your review! You can go ahead and warn Katrina about Danny's cheating heart, but I don't think she'll listen very well. You'll have about as much success as Rafe. LOL. But what makes you think Danny will be a pig in my story? Sorry to call "your Danny" a pig, but let's face it, he was! Lol. But I forgive him now :)

Bethany – good point. Yeah, most of the PC characters DO hate each other now. Haha, well not in my story :)

I apologize in advance for the bathroom humor. I know I've put a lot of it in this story and there's more in this chapter. It's just that kids talk about that kind of stuff! I know; I worked with them!

Oh, and to those of you who hate Landon, I have a feeling you'll enjoy this chapter. :) Until 15!

**Chapter 14**

"This is so _not_ how I envisioned spending the day before Christmas Eve," Alison complained as she wrapped up some picture frames in newspaper and packed them into boxes. She and Rafe had been packing up some things at the center for a couple of hours.

"I know. Me neither. I was hoping we'd get a break but I guess not." Rafe sat down in his swivel chair, opening up his desk drawers, even though they were now empty. "I guess that's just about it."

"Rafe?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you going do with the rest of this stuff? Like all the furniture, and the computers? I mean, you can't really leave them here."

"I'm giving them to the church, since they donated it all in the first place. I've already spoken to Reverend Lovejoy about it." Rafe smiled. "You know, if it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have gotten this job in the first place. I'm sure the church can find good use for all of these things, like give the computers out to kids who don't have one or something."

"I have another idea."

"What's that?"

"I think you should keep all of this stuff."

Rafe looked at her, confused. "Alison, it doesn't belong to me. All of these things were bought with church funds or donated to them. It's not mine to keep."

"Well maybe Reverend Lovejoy will let you borrow them."

Rafe looked at her, even more confused. "What am I going to do with 26 computers?"

Alison smiled. Apparently, she was going to have to spell it out for him. "I'll tell you what you can do with them. You open up your _own_ center and use them."

"My own center?"

"Yeah! You can open up a brand new one. I mean, why not? And I bet Reverend Lovejoy would totally help you!"

"I never thought of doing that."

"And think about it. You'd already have a group of kids who love you. So of course they'll go. All you gotta do is find a place."

"Hmm."

Alison frowned. "What's the matter? You do like that idea, don't you?"

Rafe smiled. "I love it. It's a great idea. It's just that I'll miss this place."

"Yeah. Me too."

"I mean, I know it's an old building, and it gets a bit drafty in the winter, but I love this place. It has everything we need, and just enough space. It's going to be hard to find something that can compare to this."

Alison walked over to Rafe, putting her arms around his neck. "I know. But we can try. Rafe, I can think of no other person who is as good at this job as you are. It'd be a shame to put your talents to waste. Those kids…they're depending on you."

"After Christmas."

"After Christmas what?"

"After Christmas is when I'll start looking for a new building. And I'll talk to Reverend Lovejoy about keeping all of these things until we get the new center set up."

Alison squealed in delight and gave Rafe a quick kiss. "I think that's a great idea! And I'll help you!"

* * *

"Are they ready yet, Mommy?" Katrina asked as Alison put on her oven mitt and opened the oven.

"I think so."

"Oh boy! I love gingerbread men! I'm gonna bite their legs off before they run away!"

Alison laughed, taking the pan out of the oven.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Before Alison even had a chance to sit the cookies down, Katrina was already running to it. "I'll get it!"

"Katrina, ask who it is first!"

Katrina's little hand stopped at the doorknob. "Who is it?"

"It's Reverend Lovejoy," a voice called out on the other side.

Katrina cracked the door open just enough to poke her head out.

"Hello, Katrina," he said with a smile.

"Hi," she said softly. Usually she was more talkative, but she was confused at why the reverend was here at their home. She hoped he wasn't here to complain about her being loud in church yesterday. Boy was Daddy mad about that!

"Is your mom or dad around?"

"Uh huh," she said, shaking her head yes.

"Reverend Lovejoy, hi," Alison said, opening the door all the way. "Sorry, I had my hands full in the kitchen. Please, come in."

"Thank you."

"So what brings you by?"

"I apologize for just coming over unexpected, but I decided this couldn't wait. I was hoping to speak to both you and Rafe. Is he here?"

"Yes, he is. Katrina, will you go get Daddy?"

"'Kay!' Katrina ran out of the room, calling out for her father. "Daddy!"

"Reverend, would you like some gingerbread cookies? I just made some."

"Oh is that what I smell? Gingerbread is my favorite. Yes, I'd love some."

"Great. I'll be right back."

Katrina ran back into the living room. "Daddy said he'll be here in just a minute. He's in the bathroom right now. Don't go in there for a while after he comes out." Katrina waved her hand in front of her nose.

The Reverend held back his laughter. "Okay."

Katrina spotted her Christmas coloring book on the coffee table. "Hey! Wanna see my coloring book?" she asked the reverend.

"I'd love to."

Katrina set the book on his lap and opened it up. "There's Santa sneaking around in the house putting presents under the tree. Santa's gonna come here tonight, because I've been good. And I pray every night, Reverend Lovejoy."

He smiled. "Well that's really good. Listen, you keep being a good little girl for your mom and dad, okay?"

"Daddy says if you're good, you go to heaven."

"That's right."

Katrina showed him another picture in her book. "There's some reindeer. I colored them pretty."

"You did a wonderful job."

"You can color some too if you want."

"Reverend Lovejoy," Rafe said, walking into the room. "What brings you by?"

"Rafe, hello. I just came over to talk to you and Alison about something that's suddenly come up."

"Nothing bad I hope."

"No, it's good news."

"Well we could certainly use some of that. I'm glad you're here. There's something I wanted to discuss with you as well."

"Here you go, Reverend." Alison placed a small plate of cookies on the table.

"Thank you, Alison."

"Katrina, there's some gingerbread men and hot chocolate waiting for you on the table."

"Oh! I gotta eat them before they run away!" she said excitedly as she ran to the kitchen.

"Did you tell him?" Alison asked, smiling as she looked at Rafe.

"Tell me what?" Reverend Lovejoy asked.

Rafe smiled. "I've made a decision. Since the center is closing down, I'm going to go and open up my own. I know we made arrangements to give all the center things to charity, but I was hoping instead you'd let me use them for mine. Once we get things settled, of course."

The reverend smiled. "That won't be necessary."

"I don't understand."

"I'm guessing you haven't seen this morning's paper."

Rafe and Alison shook their heads no.

"Landon was arrested yesterday for drug trafficking."

"Drug trafficking?" Rafe asked.

"Oh my god!" Alison said.

"Apparently, his little pharmaceutical company has been making some meth labs around the region very happy. Among other things."

Alison's eyes lit up. "What does this mean?"

"It means they're shutting down his company."

Rafe was stunned. This was the last thing he thought he'd hear today. "So this means…"

"He's no longer a problem," he said, completing his sentence. "There's really not much he can do behind bars."

"Oh my god! That's great news!" Alison said, laughing as she gave Rafe a hug.

Rafe turned to Reverend Lovejoy. "Wait a minute. Landon's not a problem anymore, but what about the money we need to keep the center open?"

The reverend's smile grew even wider. "I can't wait to tell you this. That's not a problem anymore either."

Rafe wondered if he heard him right. "What?"

"Some anonymous donor has offered to pay to keep the center funded. So it looks like you're back in business."

"You're not joking with me, right? Please tell me you're not kidding," Rafe asked with a laugh.

"It's no joke."

"Why would this person want to be anonymous?" Alison asked.

The reverend shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. People have their reasons. Well look, I have to run, and I'm going to leave you two to celebrate with the good news. Have a very merry Christmas."

"Oh we will!" Rafe said. "The center is saved, Landon is serving time. What could be better than that?"

"I'm going to take these cookies with me," Reverend Lovejoy added, taking a few off of the plate.

"Go right ahead. Enjoy!" Alison smiled.

"Bye."

"Bye. Thank you!"

"Bye, Reverend," Rafe said.

Rafe walked the reverend out and turned around to Alison.

"Ahh! See, I told you!" Alison ran over to Rafe, throwing her arms around you. "Didn't I tell you things would work out in the end?"

"Yes you did."

"This is going to be a GREAT Christmas!" Alison happily kissed Rafe.

"Hey!"

Rafe and Alison looked across the room, seeing Katrina grinning.

"You guys seen a gingerbread man running around here?" she asked.

"No, can't say I have," Rafe answered, smiling.

"No, I haven't seen him."

"That gingerbread man is a sneaky little guy! He got away from me! But I'm gonna find him! And I'm gonna eat him up!"

Alison knelt down to inspect Katrina. "Hmm, it's interesting that you say the gingerbread man ran away from you. Because looking at your face, it looks like I see cookie crumbs on your mouth."

"Oh!" Katrina covered her mouth, and then began to laugh. "Just kidding! I ate him all gone!"

"You nut!" Rafe knelt down, ticking his daughter, making her laugh. Then he scooped her up into his arms.

"Hey, why are you guys so happy?"

"Because, Princess, we got some really good news today. Remember that man we called a grinch?"

"Yeah! He's mean!"

"Well guess what? Since he did some really bad things, the police said he has to go to jail now."

"Is he still going to take away the center, Daddy?"

"Nope. He won't bother us anymore, Princess."

"Yay! I knew Santa could do it!"

Rafe gave his daughter a confused look. "Santa?"

"Yeah! I asked Santa to fix things and he did!"

"You wrote Santa another letter?"

"No. I asked him when I saw him at the mall. When Nana took me."

Rafe gave his daughter a smile. "You thought of asking Santa that all by yourself?"

"Uh huh! And I told him he didn't even have to bring me a pony if he could make you happy again."

Rafe almost felt as if he could cry. Looking over at Alison, she already was. Rafe held Katrina closer, giving her a hug. "I love you, Princess."

"I love you too, Daddy."

"And I love you both." Alison put her arms around the two, forming a group hug.

"Well, this calls for a celebration!" Rafe announced. "How about we all go out for lunch? Hmm? Somewhere nice. And tonight, we've got a party to go to!"

Katrina's eyes lit up. "Can we go to Luigi's?"

"What do you want at Luigi's?" Rafe asked with a smile.

"Um…spaghetti!"

"Spaghetti sounds good to me. Luigi's it is!"

"Yay!"

"Go get your shoes, Princess." Rafe put her down, and Katrina ran off to her room.

Alison smiled at Rafe, then wrapped her arms around him. "We have done an incredible job with her."

"Well of course. Look at her parents."

"She's the best of both of us."

"And I just bet that she's going to be a great big sister."

"Yes, she will."

"Speaking of which…will we know soon?"

Alison smiled. "I'd say we'll know something very soon."

"I can't wait," Rafe said, as he pulled Alison in for a hug.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: To those of you who I told that there would be only two more chapters left, I changed my mind. It's going to be three. I wasn't quite done with writing the chapter I was working on and rather than make you wait, I'll just go ahead and post the first part of it :)

I'm glad you all enjoyed seeing Landon get what he deserved. The funny thing is that _originally_, I had not planned on having Landon go to jail. But the more I wrote him, the more I hated him, so I had no choice. I had him arrested! Port Charles will be a much better place without him around! LOL

Well, until 16…

**Chapter 15**

Before Rafe had even opened the door, he could hear Lucy complaining.

"And I said _white_ candles NOT _red _candles! It's supposed to be _Winter Wonderland! _And _Winter Wonderland _is WHITE! NOT RED! I don't care if you have to go out and buy them yourself! Just fix it!"

Rafe had to laugh to himself. Some things never changed.

Don rushed off, shaking his head at Rafe. "Your cousin is impossible!" he whispered.

"Lucy?"

Lucy looked up from her clipboard and smiled. "Rafe! Oh cousin, I'm so glad to see you!"

"Looks like things are coming along nicely."

Lucy laughed. "Are you KIDDING me! Things couldn't be _worse!_ The decorations are nowhere NEAR complete, the fruit wasn't fresh, and the flowers haven't EVEN arrived yet and the party is in just a few hours!"

Rafe put his hands on her shoulders. "Okay, just breathe. Calm down. Things are going to turn out just fine."

"But the party is…"

"Going to be great, just like ALL of them have." Rafe gave his cousin a smile. "Relax."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, of course! Lucy, you do this to yourself every year. You start to panic when it comes down to the wire and you doubt yourself over and over, thinking that the party's going to be a complete disaster. And then when all is said and done, you end up outdoing yourself every year. So relax. It's going to be great."

Lucy gave him a weak smile. "Thanks, cousin. I guess I really needed to hear that."

"You're welcome."

Lucy gave him a suspicious look. "You seem to be in an awfully chipper mood today. What's up?"

"Alison and I just found out this morning that the youth center is saved!"

"What? Oh my god! How? What happened?"

"Landon was arrested!"

Lucy gasped. "For what?"

"Drug trafficking. So get this. They're shutting down his company, and he's spending time behind bars!"

"Oh! That's INCREDIBLE news! Oh! I'm so happy! So what are you going to do now? I know your funding source ran out. Can you still keep it open?"

"Even better. Someone's offered to pay to keep the center running. Isn't that amazing!"

"Yes! That's great! Oh I'm so happy for you!" Lucy gave Rafe a hug. "Christmas miracles really do happen!"

"Yes, they do. So, I came here to tell you the good news, but I also came to help. Is there anything you need me to do?"

"As a matter of fact…oh yes! There they are!" Lucy stopped mid-sentence and ran over to a man holding a vase of flowers.

"I've got a whole truckload of these," the man said.

Lucy took the vase of flowers from the man and handed it to Rafe. "Rafe, could you help?" Lucy asked.

"Sure."

"Thanks! You're a lifesaver!" Lucy gave Rafe a quick kiss on the cheek and then ran off. "Bob! Bob! I need a music check!"

* * *

"Tracy, they look fabulous. I _love_ this color." Alison held out her freshly polished nails, still wet with paint.

"I love that shade too. It's very bright. Makes a statement."

"My turn!" Katrina said, putting her hands on the table.

Tracy laughed. "Well let's get you all set up."

"If Rafe knew what I was getting her started on, I'd never hear the end of it."

"What? Getting manicures?"

"Yes. He thinks I'm the one who paints her nails. Little does he know."

"Yeah, it's our little secret! Shh!" Katrina added.

Tracy laughed. "Well there's nothing wrong with making our nails beautiful now is there?" Tracy gave Katrina a wink. "Now, what color would you like, sweetie?"

"Um. Um. I don't know! Something pretty like Mommy!"

"Well how about a shade that matches your dress? What color is it?"

"It's um, it's…" Katrina looked up at her mother. "What did you call it, Mommy?"

"Lavender."

"Oh yeah! Lavender!"

"Oh! Lavender is a _pretty_ color!"

"My dress is pretty! It's got lacy stuff on it, and little flowers, and when I spin it twirls!"

"I bet you'll be the belle of the ball in that dress!"

Katrina laughed.

"How about we go with a lavender color? Hmm? I bet it will go very nicely with your dress."

"Okay!"

Tracy began working on Katrina's nails, and with her tiny nails, it didn't take long until she was finished.

"Well, how do you like them?"

"Ooo! They're so pretty!" Katrina exclaimed, holding up her hands and admiring her nails.

"Beautiful nails!" Alison said.

"Now don't you bite those pretty nails of yours, young lady," Tracy said with a smile.

"I won't."

"Thank you so much, Tracy!"

"Oh you're welcome. Caroline will ring you up at the counter. You two have a wonderful time at the party tonight, and have a very merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas."

"And have a Happy New Year!" Katrina added happily.

* * *

The doorbell rang, and Alison ran to it.

"Livvie! Hey sweetie!" Alison hugged her best friend, inviting her inside. "You look beautiful! Love the dress!"

"Thank you! And I love yours!"

"Thanks! Aww, look at this little one!" Alison looked down, seeing Charlotte wearing a pretty white dress. "Hey, Charlotte! Pretty girl!"

Charlotte smiled at Alison, giving her a little wave.

"That dress looks so familiar."

"It's Christina's old one. The one she wore at the wedding. Lucy practically _insisted _she wear it tonight when she found out she could fit into it."

Alison laughed. That was so like Lucy. "Wow, I can't believe Christina could actually fit into that just six years ago. So where's Jack?"

"Jack said he didn't want to wait around for us girls to get ready. So he'll pick us up."

"He sounds like Rafe! He mysteriously disappeared a while ago."

"Aunt Livvie!" Katrina ran into the room, running to her and giving her a hug.

"Hello, sweetie!"

"Look at my pretty nails!" Katrina held up her hands, letting Livvie admire them.

"Oh, how beautiful!"

"Katrina, you're not even dressed yet!" Alison complained. She hated to think her daughter was now picking up her late habits.

"I'm gonna put on my dress in a minute, Mommy. I gotta show Charlotte our Christmas tree! Charlotte, come look!" Katrina walked over to her, taking her hand and leading her to the tree.

"See our tree? Look! We got presents under it!"

"Presents!"

"And look, this one's for you! It's from me!" Katrina picked up a box and handed it to her. "But you can't open it 'til tomorrow, okay?

"My present!" Charlotte began to tear the paper off.

"No, Charlotte! You can't open it 'til Christmas!" Katrina took the box away, and Charlotte attempted to grab it back.

"I'm not giving it to you unless you promise not to open it." Katrina held the box high above her head.

Charlotte began to get fussy, trying to reach for it.

Alison intervened, taking the gift out of Katrina's hand. "Katrina, how about we let Aunt Livvie hold it for her?"

"All right."

"Now why don't you take Charlotte to your room and let her play with your toys?"

"Okay! Come on, Charlotte! Let's go play!" Katrina hopped up and ran out of the room, with Charlotte happily following, forgetting all about the present.

"And put that dress on!" Alison called after her.

"Well, we should get ready too!" Livvie announced, holding up her makeup bag. "I brought supplies!"

* * *

Alison and Livvie stood in front of the dresser mirror, admiring themselves.

"Your hair looks incredible, Livvie," Alison said.

"Thanks for helping me with it. And your makeup is great."

"Thank you. Well, now that we're ready, I have to get my girl ready. Katrina, are you dressed yet?" Alison called out.

"Yes!"

"Come here, please!"

Katrina raced into her mother's room. "Look at me!" Katrina spun around, showing off her dress.

"Well, well, Miss Katrina, look at you!"

"I love your dress, Katrina," Livvie said.

"Thank you. Watch this!" Katrina spun around in circles, making her dress twirl. Katrina laughed. "Whoa! I'm getting dizzy!"

"Come here, baby, let me do your hair." Alison moved to the bed and motioned for Katrina to sit beside her. Alison picked up a brush and began to work on the mess of tangles. "I'm going to put your hair up, okay?"

"Put it up like yours, Mommy. So we'll be twins."

Alison laughed. "All right."

"Mommy's good at hair."

"She is," Livvie agreed. "She did my hair too."

"Daddy's not good at hair."

"Yeah, poor Daddy," Alison laughed.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Will Danny be at the party?"

"I'm sure he will."

Katrina looked at her mother and smiled big. "Can I wear some lipstick?"

"Oh, no ma'am!" Alison laughed.

"Please! Pretty, pretty please!"

"Well…alright. But a very _light_ shade of pink."

"Yay!"

"Why do you want to wear lipstick, Katrina?" Livvie asked with a smile.

Katrina turned to Livvie and grinned. "Because I wanna kiss him!" Katrina began to laugh.

"Don't tell your father that," Alison said, reaching into her bag for her pink lipstick. "Okay, look at me." Alison rolled the lipstick over her tiny lips. "Okay, now smack your lips together."

Katrina smacked her lips.

"Beautiful!" Alison said with a smile.

"Now I'm pretty!"

"Katrina, you already are pretty!"

"But now I'm really, _really pretty_! And Danny will think so too! 'Cause you have to look pretty for your boyfriend!"

Livvie couldn't help but laugh. "I think you're a little too young to have a boyfriend, Katrina!"

"Well he's a boy. And he's my friend. So he's my boyfriend."

Alison turned to Livvie. "I don't know where she's picking this up from."

"From you, Alison!" Livvie laughed. "She sees you and Rafe kiss all the time. She picks it up from you."

Alison smiled. "You just wait until Charlotte grows up a little bit.

* * *

Alison looked at the clock on the wall, wondering where Rafe was. Jack had just picked up Livvie and Charlotte not more than two minutes ago, and she had assumed Rafe would have been back by now.

Alison's thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. She walked across the room and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Angel."

"Hey! Where are you! We're ready to go to the party and you're nowhere in sight! It's not like you to be the one to make us late."

"I'm sorry, Alison. I got held up. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a florist open this late on Christmas Eve."

"Florist?"

"Do me a favor. Open the front door."

"Um. Okay." Alison walked to the door and opened it. She smiled, seeing a dozen pink roses in front of her. She began to laugh. "You didn't."

Rafe moved the flowers away from his face and gave Alison a smile. "I did. Merry Christmas, Alison."

Alison happily took the roses, smelling one of the buds. "Rafe, they're beautiful. Is that what you were out doing?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't have to do that. I mean, I love that you did, but you didn't have to."

"Yeah, but I'd do anything to see that smile on your face."

"Aww. Thank you." Alison smiled at Rafe, thanking him with a kiss. "I love them."

"Okay. You want to know the real reason why I bought you pink roses tonight?"

"What's the real reason?"

"Because of what tonight is. It's a very special night."

"Christmas Eve?"

"No," Rafe laughed. "It's not just because it's Christmas Eve, or because there's a party to go to. It's more than that. Every year when we go to this party, I can't help but think of the first one. I keep replaying over and over in my mind that moment when we said goodbye. It had been the perfect evening up until that point."

Alison smiled, hoping she wouldn't cry and ruin her makeup. "But you came back to me."

"Yeah, I did. And I think that's why I look forward to this night every year. Because I know that when the night's over, I'll be right back in your arms."

"That's the best part." Alison wrapped her arms around Rafe, kissing him again.

"DADDY!"

"There's my little angel!"

Katrina ran to her father and Rafe scooped her up. "Hello, Princess."

"Hey, Daddy. Like my dress?"

"I love it. You're just as beautiful as your mother."

"Can we go to the party now?" Katrina begged.

"Yes. We can go!"

And with that, the three of them grabbed their coats and headed off to the party.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Awww! You girls are so sweet! Thank you so much for all of the reviews, emails, and posts on my tagboard...I'm glad you're enjoying the story! It's truly been my favorite story to write so far. I guess b/c Katrina is such a fun character:)

Well, have a Happy Easter everyone! Until 17...

**Chapter 16**

After all of the planning, and panicking, that Lucy had gone through, she had once again outdone herself.

With white lights, white flowers, white candles, and appropriately enough, white cotton for "snow", it really did look like Lucy's version of a _Winter Wonderland._

"Rafe! Alison! There you are!"

"Lucy, this place looks incredible!" Alison said.

"Well thank you."

"I told you you'd pull it off," Rafe said with a smile.

Lucy grinned. "You were right. Everything's perfect. Just how I imagined it! Hey, where's that little peanut of yours?"

"BOO!" Katrina shouted, jumping out from behind her parents. She began to laugh.

"Oh my goodness! There she is!" Lucy knelt down, pulling her into a hug. "You look so pretty!"

"Where's the cake?" Katrina asked, not hiding her impatience one bit.

"Katrina Rose! Where are your manners?" Alison chastised.

"Oh. Um. _Pretty please?_"

Lucy laughed. "How about we go look for it? Shall we?"

"Okay!"

Lucy gave Rafe and Alison a nod. "Go ahead. I'll watch her."

"Thanks, Lucy," Alison said, watching the two head towards the dessert table. "Katrina, don't get frosting on that new dress!" Alison called out, although she doubted Katrina heard her.

"Well, would you like to dance?" Rafe asked, offering his hand.

Alison smiled, putting her hand into his. "I'd love to."

"You look beautiful," Rafe whispered as he took Alison in his arms and they began to move. "I can't remember if I told you that tonight already."

"You did. But I love hearing it again. You look pretty handsome yourself."

"If you had told me a week ago that I'd be this happy now, I probably wouldn't have believed you."

"Well you do always say to believe in miracles."

Rafe smiled. "We certainly got ours."

"Yes we did."

Rafe and Alison kissed, and continued to dance.

* * *

"Hey, having a good time?" Livvie asked Alison as she took a seat at the table beside her. 

"Yeah. The best time." Alison turned her attention to the dance floor and smiled.

"What is it?"

"Look at them."

Livvie glanced across the room, smiling as she saw Rafe dancing with his daughter. Rafe didn't seem to mind that she stood on his toes and let him do all the stepping.

"That is adorable. He's so good with her."

"Yeah. She's Daddy's little girl. Where's Charlotte?"

"Asleep. Too much excitement for her, I suppose. Serena's watching her upstairs."

"Hmm, so where's Jack?"

Livvie laughed. "Where he always is!" She nodded her head towards the dessert table, where Jack was helping himself to some cake.

"That reminds me. Tell Jack he's met his monthly quota at the bakery. No more free cookies for him, or else he'll eat me out of business."

"Oh, don't worry, I will. In fact, just ban him from the bakery all together. He's got to get in shape for the Bahamas."

"The Bahamas?"

Livvie turned to Alison, smiling big. "I didn't tell you yet! We're going in February! For one whole week, just in time for Valentine's Day!"

Alison's jaw dropped. "When did you two decide to do that?"

"It's a photography job for the magazine. All expenses paid."

"Oh my god!"

"And the best part is that my dad and Lucy have offered to watch Charlotte. Just the two of us, together, for a whole week in a tropical paradise."

"I'm so jealous of you right now."

"I'll send you a postcard," Livvie promised.

Just then, Katrina walked over to the table, take a grape from Alison's plate and popping it into her mouth.

Alison gave her daughter a smile. "Hey, baby. I saw you dancing with Daddy. Did you have fun?"

Katrina smiled. "Uh huh! Daddy says I'm a good dancer!"

Suddenly, Katrina gasped excitedly. "There he is! I've been looking _everywhere_ for him!"

"Who, sweetie?"

Katrina ignored her mother's question and took off, running to Danny.

"Come on, Danny! Dance with me!"

Before Danny had a chance to protest, Katrina grabbed his hand and practically dragged him to the dance floor.

Alison and Livvie looked at each other, and they couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

"Ramsey, haven't you had enough?" 

Jack turned around to see Alison staring at him with a grin on her face.

"They're like those potato chips. You can't have just one."

"Mmm-hmm. You've got a little chocolate…" Alison pointed to her lip.

"Oh." Jack wiped it off with his fingertip. "Thanks."

"You know, you really better lay off on the sweets. If you're going to the Bahamas in two months you better look the part."

"After the holidays," he said with a grin. "Holidays are a time to indulge yourself with good tasting food."

"Oh, okay."

"Hey, I'm back," Livvie announced, walking over to the two of them.

"Where did you go?" Jack asked.

"To check on our daughter. She's still asleep."

"How much longer do you want to stay?"

"Oh, I don't know. Not too much longer though. We should probably get her home."

"Should we leave in about twenty?"

"That's fine."

"Alright. Well, if you ladies will excuse me." Jack smiled as he left the two to themselves.

Suddenly, Danny came running around the corner, pushing his way between Alison and Livvie.

"Eww! Eww! I've got girl cooties!"

A couple of seconds later, Katrina followed, laughing hysterically as she chased him.

"Whoa! Hold on there, little lady!"

Katrina was fast, but not fast enough as Alison scooped her up by the arms, stopping her in her tracks. Alison set her daughter down and knelt down to her level.

"Katrina, are you bothering Danny?"

"We're just playing, Mommy."

Alison looked at her daughter suspiciously. "What are you playing?"

Katrina began to giggle a little. "Boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Oh dear," Alison said softly to herself. "Katrina, you're not going around kissing Danny, are you?"

"Um."

"Katrina, answer me."

"Just one time, Mommy. On his cheek."

"Hmm. Well, that's not so bad. I should have had this talk with you earlier."

"Am I in trouble, Mommy? Because kissing's not bad, is it? You and Daddy do it all the time."

"See, I told you she's getting this from you," Livvie said with a laugh.

"No baby, kissing's not bad. And you're right, Daddy and I do kiss a lot. But that's because we're grownups. Listen, when you grow up and you find a boy you like, you can kiss him as much as you want, okay? But for now, you're just not big enough. So no more kissing games, or you will be in trouble, you understand?"

"Alright."

"Okay, go play."

Katrina took off, going towards the direction Danny had just run off to.

"Wow, they're growing up earlier and earlier these days, aren't they?" Livvie said.

"Yeah, no kidding. I just hope Rafe doesn't find out about this."

"Find out about what?" Rafe asked, snaking his arms around her waist and giving her neck a kiss. "You keeping secrets from me already?"

Alison turned around, clearly not prepared to have this discussion. "Rafe, I didn't know you were behind me."

"So what is it that you're hoping I won't find out about? Huh?"

"Oh, um. Well..."

"Jack and I are going to the Bahamas for Valentine's Day," Livvie blurted out.

"The Bahamas?" Rafe gave Livvie a confused look.

"Yeah. Jack has a photography gig and we get to go for free."

Rafe turned to Alison. "That's what you didn't want me to find out?"

"Oh...well, yeah! They're going to be spending Valentine's Day somewhere warm while we'll be in cold Port Charles. No fair."

Rafe laughed. "Alison, as much as I love the idea of you and I on a tropical beach somewhere and you wearing a tiny bikini, anywhere I'm with you is the happiest place on earth."

Alison smiled. "Really?"

"Really." Rafe touched her chin, gently pulling her lips to his.

But the moment was interrupted, however, by the sound of children.

"Leave me alone, Katrina!"

"I'm not gonna kiss you again, Danny! I promise!" Katrina stopped to look at her mother. "I didn't kiss him again, Mommy! Honest! He won't play with me now because he said I have cooties!" Katrina then took off, trying to catch up to the boy. "Danny!"

"Oh no," Alison muttered.

"Sorry, I tried," Livvie said, walking away.

"Rafe?"

Rafe couldn't find the words to talk. Surely he hadn't heard that right.

"Rafe?" Alison said again.

"Kissing?"

"Rafe, why don't you sit down. You look pale."

Rafe took a seat, finally looking at Alison. He started to laugh. "Okay. I'm hearing things, right? I didn't just hear our daughter say she kissed a boy, did I?"

"She just gave him a little kiss on the cheek, that's all."

"She WHAT?"

"Rafe, calm down! You're overreacting! She just has a little crush! And she promised not to do it again because I told her that kissing is only something grown-ups can do."

"What's the name of that all-girl school your grandmother said she went to?"

"Rafe! That school's in Massachusetts!"

Rafe eyes grew wide as he formulated a plan in his mind. "Oh that's okay! We'll move! Yes, an all-girl school! She starts kindergarten next year. That's where she can go! It's a brilliant idea!"

"Except the fact that the tuition is outrageous and the waiting list is five years long."

"Your grandmother can pull some strings, right?"

Alison rolled her eyes and walked away, her way of letting Rafe know that it was the end of the discussion.

"Alison! Can we talk about this?" Rafe called out.

"Daddy? Can you fix this?"

Rafe's thoughts were interrupted, as Katrina held a necklace with a broken clasp in front of him.

"Come here, Princess," Rafe said, placing Katrina in his lap as he took the necklace from her. "I just had a really good idea."

"What, Daddy?"

"Next year, you're going to start school."

"Yeah! I'm gonna go to the big school!"

"That's right. Well I was thinking, how would you like to go to the same school your nana went to?"

Katrina gave her father a look of confusion. "Port Charles Elementary?"

"No, not that school. It's a very special school. And you know what makes it so special?

"What?"

"Only girls can go to the school! No boys! What do you think of that?"

Katrina started to laugh. "You're silly, Daddy!" With that, Katrina hopped out of Rafe's lap and ran off, leaving Rafe with the broken necklace, and a broken heart as well.

* * *

Rafe had assumed that the party would tucker Katrina out, like last year's had. He smiled, thinking of how she fell asleep in the car on the way home and he had to carry her into the house. 

But this year, no such luck. It was way past Katrina's bedtime, and she, apparently, had no intentions of going to sleep.

"Please can I stay up? Please! I want to catch Santa coming down the chimney!"

"But you're not supposed to see Santa Claus," Rafe said with a wink.

Katrina jumped up and down on the couch in her little pajamas. Katrina knew that if she just kept asking, Daddy would give in. "But I saw him at the mall! I wanna see him put presents under the tree! Please can I stay up? Please, Daddy?"

"Oh, Rafe, let her," Alison said, walking into the living room with a plate full of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk.

Rafe looked at his wife, then looked at his daughter, giving him those puppy eyes that he couldn't say no to. He was outnumbered. "Alright. You can stay up."

"Yay!"

"Here you go, baby." Alison put the plate of cookies on the coffee table, and set the milk beside it. "They're warm, just out of the oven."

"Thanks, Mommy. But I can only have one. Because the rest are for Santa!"

"Oh okay."

"I wanna watch Rudolph! Can I?"

"Sure, baby." Alison walked over to the TV to set the movie up.

"Alright, Princess, if you're going to stay out here all night, you're going to have to keep warm." Rafe grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped her up. Then he kneeled down, giving her a kiss on her little forehead. "Goodnight, Princess."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

"And no opening presents until morning."

"'Kay," Katrina said, her attention already on the television as she munched on a cookie.

"Night, sweetie," Alison whispered, getting one last hug and kiss for the night from her little girl.

Alison and Rafe left the room, but stopped to watch her from the hallway.

"I can't believe you agreed to let her stay out there," Rafe whispered. "How are we going to get the presents under the tree now?"

Alison laughed. "Oh, Rafe, don't you know? She'll be out in twenty minutes. I guarantee you."

About a half hour later, Rafe and Alison checked on Katrina. The movie continued to play, but Katrina was oblivious.

Alison looked to Rafe and smiled. "See? What did I tell you?"

"You were right. Come on, let's get those presents."

While Katrina slept, Rafe and Alison headed to the garage to gather all of the presents they had been hiding. They worked quietly, putting the small ones under the tree and hiding the bigger ones in the back. And when all was finished, there was only one more thing left to do.

"Cookie?" Rafe asked, taking one from the plate and holding it in front of Alison's mouth.

"Mmm-hmm." Alison took a bite from it.

"These are delicious. You always make the best."

"Well thank you. But they really go better with some milk."

Rafe picked up the plate of cookies and sat down in the chair. Alison grabbed the milk and sat in his lap.

Rafe held Alison closer. "You know, it seems like it's going to be a pretty good Christmas after all. Maybe the best one yet."

"I think you're right. Another cookie?"

"Ho, ho, ho," Rafe said with a laugh, then taking a bite of the chocolate chip cookie.

And as Alison took a sip of milk, her heart filled with such incredible joy.

She was almost positive she was expecting.

And tomorrow morning, she'd know for sure.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **Well girls, this is it. The last chapter of my little Christmas story. (Even though it's Easter now haha!)

To everyone who has been following my little Rali saga…thanks so much for all of the support! I write these stories for myself mainly to keep Rafe and Alison "alive" but it makes me happy to hear that you enjoy reading them too!

This last chapter will answer all your questions. I thought of a few different ways I could write this last chapter, so it was tough deciding on what to do, but I hope you'll be pleased with the way I ended things. And to Gracie, a special thanks for helping me with the little block I had with this chapter. ;)

And one more thing, this is not _really_ the end. I can't let Katrina grow up too fast. (And neither can Rafe apparently LOL) She'll be around and cuter than ever coming up in my next story. :)

Until then…enjoy!

**Chapter 17**

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

Alison rolled over in bed. "What time is it?"

"Ten after seven," Rafe replied groggily.

"MOMMY! DADDY! WAKE UP!"

Rafe and Alison were suddenly jolted awake as Katrina pounced on their bed, shaking them relentlessly.

"Come on! You've gotta see what Santa left! Hurry!" Katrina then jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.

Rafe and Alison sat up slowly, trying to get their bearings.

"Guess we should hurry before she opens up all of them," Rafe said.

"Let's go."

When Alison and Rafe made it to the living room, Katrina had already started opening presents.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look what Santa brought! Dora!" Katrina held up her _Dora the Explorer_ doll.

"I think that's from Aunt Livvie, baby."

"I love Dora! And look what else I got! Coloring books! And crayons!"

"Sweetie, there are some more presents over here with your name on them."

"Ooo!" Katrina ran over to where her mother pointed, grabbing the biggest box she could find.

Rafe smiled as he watched Katrina. She wasted no time tearing the wrapping paper off and opening up the boxes. It reminded him of Alison.

Katrina gasped loudly. "A pony! A pretty, pretty, pony!"

Rafe and Alison both smiled, sitting on the couch to watch their little girl open all of her presents.

Katrina pulled the huge stuffed animal out of the box and sat it on the floor. Seconds later, she was sitting on it's back, holding it's reins like a true cowgirl. "Giddy-up, horsy!"

Rafe laughed. "I gotta get the camera for this."

As Rafe left the room, Katrina began looking for another present to open. She grabbed the box and tore the paper off, opening it as fast as she could. "Aww! A baby! Mommy, look! A baby!"

Alison laughed. "And she doesn't poop either! Although she _does_ wet."

"A peeing doll!" Katrina laughed like that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. Katrina took the doll out of the box and took the diaper off to investigate. Sure enough, there was a little hole for water to come out.

"Rafe! Hurry up with that camera! You're missing it!"

"It needs a battery change! I'm coming!"

"Mommy, what's this?" Katrina held up a mysterious card.

"Where did you get that from, baby?"

"It was in the box."

"Let me see."

Katrina handed the card over to her mother.

Alison smiled, seeing the words on the front. _To KATRINA, From: SANTA_. She wondered what Rafe was up to.

"Looks like Santa left you a note."

"OOO! Read it! Read it!" Katrina begged.

Opening the card, Alison was a surprised to see the handwriting. It wasn't Rafe's at all.

"_Dearest Katrina,_

_I know for Christmas, you wanted a real baby. And I promise you, it's on its way. But you'll just have to wait for a while. So be patient!_

_In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this doll baby. She's almost like the real thing!_

_Merry Christmas, Katrina!_

_Love,_

_SANTA_"

"WOW! Santa is SO COOL!"

"Merry Christmas, Princess!" Rafe said, walking into the room with the video camera.

"Hey, Daddy! Look what Santa brought me! A doll baby! Santa brought me this one until the real baby comes!" Katrina picked up the doll and held it in front of the camera. "Look at her, Daddy!"

"She's beautiful, Princess!"

"And she even WETS herself!" Katrina laughed. "I'm gonna get some water!" Katrina ran out of the room, still laughing.

"Whew, I'm glad she loves it," Rafe said, feeling relieved. "I was worried she'd be disappointed there wasn't a live baby in that box."

"Yeah, speaking of that. Rafe, when you were wrapping that up, did you put this in there?" Alison held up the card.

"I didn't wrap it. I used the gift-wrapping service at the mall. What is that?"

Alison handed him the card. "It's a note. From 'Santa'."

Rafe opened the card and read it. As he did, a smile formed on his lips. "I know who this is from."

Alison gave him a confused look. "Santa?"

Rafe laughed, handing the card back to her. "Yeah. Otherwise known as Ed. I recognize that handwriting anywhere."

"I should have known," Alison smiled.

Rafe gave Alison a smile. "Maybe Ed knows something we don't?"

"Guess we'll find out soon."

"I got some water!" Katrina announced as she came back into the room, holding up a cup. "I gotta put it in her bottle and feed her. Then she's gonna go pee pee!" Katrina laughed, sitting down on the floor to play with her new doll.

Rafe turned to Alison. "Would you like your Christmas present now?"

Alison smiled. "You know I do! Oh! Let me get yours too!"

Rafe and Alison both walked over to the tree, stepping over the heaps of wrapping paper Katrina had left everywhere, and picked out their presents for each other.

"Okay, you first," Rafe insisted, placing Alison's present in her lap as the two sat back down on the couch.

"Wow, this is a big box."

"Go ahead, open it."

Alison gave Rafe a smile, then quickly tore off the paper. Once she did that, she found a box. Alison carefully lifted up the lid, and squealed in delight when she saw what was inside.

"Cake decorating accessories!"

Rafe laughed, knowing that would be her reaction.

"Oh my gosh! Look at all of this stuff! A cake stand! A cake knife! A cake tester! Oh! 52 piece decorating set! Rafe! How did you know this is what I wanted?"

"Well you're always complaining you never have enough of those things. I thought it was time you finally did."

"Aww! Rafe, I love it! Thank you!" Alison happily kissed Rafe. "Okay, your turn!"

"Alright." Rafe carefully peeled away the wrapping paper. As he opened the box, he smelled the distinct smell of brand new books. Rafe picked a few of them out, glancing at the titles. "Alison, these are the books that I wanted."

Alison smiled. "I know. I ordered them like a month ago. You've got all the classics in there in. _Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn. Old Yeller. Charlotte's Web. Bridge to Terabithia. _Oh, and my favorite. _Island of the Blue Dolphins. _Plus tons more."

"Alison, this is great. The kids at the center are going to love them."

"I was almost worried that I'd have to return them and buy you something else when it looked like the center was going to close down. But then I thought, nah, either way, you'd be working with kids and you could use them."

"This is great, Alison. Thank you."

"Oh and look. There's something else in there."

Rafe picked up something wrapped up in tissue paper. As he unwrapped it, he saw he name printed, and he realized what it was. "A nameplate!"

"Now you finally have one to put on your desk at work!"

"Alison, I love it all." Rafe turned to Alison, giving her a kiss.

"Look! Look!" Katrina shouted, holding up her half-dressed doll over a miniature diaper. "She's peeing!" Katrina rolled with laughter.

"You know what, Princess?"

"What, Daddy?"

"Maybe you could put your baby down for a nap right now. I still see a couple of presents with your name on them. And there's a _huge_ box behind the tree."

Katrina's eyes grew wide with excitement. She had forgotten there were more presents! "Oh boy! Oh boy!" Katrina left the baby on the floor as she hopped up and ran over to the tree. She stepped behind it, noticing for the first time the very big box with a red bow on the top. Katrina attempted to move it, but it was just too heavy.

"Daddy! Help me!"

Rafe handed the camera over to Alison, and then walked over to the tree. Rafe picked up the box and placed it in the middle of the room. "Open it up, Princess!"

"This is a BIG present!" Katrina said, ripping the paper off and tossing it aside. Finally, she was able to lift the flap of the box and peer inside the box. "It's a dollhouse! Daddy! It's a dollhouse just like Santa said he would bring!"

Rafe helped Katrina take the dollhouse out of the box. He set it on the floor, and right away, Katrina started to play with it. "Oh it's so pretty! It looks like a little tiny house!" Katrina then grabbed the miniature people inside. "Look, Mommy! Look at the little people for the house!"

"I love it, baby!" Alison gave Rafe a smile, knowing how hard he had worked to build that house.

Katrina was so excited, she just didn't know what to do with herself. She wanted to play with all of her new things, and yet, she still had MORE to open! And when she was finished opening them all, she didn't know what to play with first!

All of the excitement was making her hungry. Katrina walked over to her mother, who was just as excited over her own Christmas gifts. She couldn't wait to bake a cake and use all of her new accessories.

"Mommy, I'm hungry!"

"What do you want to eat, baby?"

"Um...French toast!"

"Okay, French toast it is!"

As Alison began to get up, Rafe pulled her back. "No, that's okay. I'll make breakfast today."

Alison smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Why should you always be the one? You deserve a break today."

Alison grinned. "All right. I'll take you up on that offer. But just a word of warning...you burn it, and I'll make you redo it. And so will Katrina."

Rafe laughed. "Okay."

"Oh hey, could you do me another favor?"

"Sure. What's that?"

"That basket underneath the sink with the kitchen washcloths...they're dirty. You mind throwing them in the washer and starting it? I already have a load of clothes in there."

"Sure. I can do that."

"Thanks." Alison gave him a quick kiss, then stood up. She walked across the room, giving Katrina a kiss as she played with her toys, then left the room.

* * *

Later that morning, as everyone was occupied with other things, Alison managed to slip away for a while. She closed the door to the bathroom, locking herself in.

In her hand, she held a brown paper bag. She reached inside, taking out the pregnancy test and examining the box. She must have read and reread the box like a dozen times.

Alison was convinced she didn't need a test to know the truth. It was almost as if she could feel the change come over her, no matter how subtle.

But she played it on the safe side. It wasn't a sure thing yet. She didn't want to get her hopes up, or Rafe's for that matter. If he knew she was taking a test right now, of course he'd get excited. Better to wait until she was completely positive before she said anything.

"Alison?"

Alison gasped, started by the unexpected knock at the door.

"Um, yeah?"

"How much detergent am I supposed to use? The cap has three lines," Rafe called out from the other side of the door.

"Just follow the directions on the container. It's a really dirty load."

"Okay."

Alison looked down at the box again in her hands. "Well. Moment of truth," she said to herself, taking the test out of the box.

* * *

"Daddy, whatcha doing?"

"I'm helping out your mother," Rafe said as he put the remaining dirty towels into the washer.

"You're doing the laundry?" Katrina stood on her tiptoes and peered inside the washer, always fascinated how water poured into the machine and filled it up.

Rafe looked down to his daughter. "It's a really dirty load. I think I'll put in a little extra." Rafe began to pour the detergent in.

"Yeah, put in a whole bunch!"

"Okay, now time to make breakfast." Rafe closed the washer lid and headed back into the house. As he looked back, he noticed his daughter wasn't following him. "Katrina, come on."

"I wanna play!" she said, hopping onto her motorcycle.

"Princess, you don't have enough room in the garage to ride that."

"Yes I do," she said, going around in circles with it.

Rafe sighed. He hated that motorcycle already. "Don't stay in here too long. Breakfast will be ready soon."

"Kay!"

Rafe shook his head, then headed back into the house to get breakfast started.

* * *

Alison smiled as she watched Rafe prepare breakfast.

In her mind, nothing was sexier than watching a man cook. And she was proud of Rafe. She hadn't had much hope for him years ago, considering the only thing he could manage to make was toast, and even that he would burn. But he worked hard, and it was nice for a change to have him make breakfast.

Alison sneaked up behind him, curling her arms around him. "Almost finished?"

"It'll be a while."

"It smells good."

"Thanks."

"Hey, Rafe?"

"Yeah?"

"You have a moment? Because I have another Christmas present for you."

"Oh yeah?" Rafe said with a smile.

"Mmm-hmm. Come sit down with me."

"Okay."

Alison took Rafe's hand, leading him to the kitchen table.

"I don't see a present anywhere."

Alison smiled. "Well, see, it's not exactly the kind of present I can give to you wrapped."

"Oh? Well you've got me curious."

"Rafe, I…"

"MOMMY! DADDY!" Katrina burst into the kitchen, coming in from the garage, laughing hysterically and covered in suds.

"Oh my god! Katrina! What in the world!" Alison looked Katrina over, trying to figure out an explanation for her appearance.

Katrina giggled uncontrollably, struggling to get out it. "I was playing in the garage…and then the washer….it just went CRAZY! COME LOOK!"

Rafe and Alison ran to the garage. And sure enough, it was complete chaos!

The washer was vibrating wildly, making all kinds of loud noises as it churned the clothes and water inside.

Suds were _everywhere_, spilling out of the washer and onto the floor, covering it in a wet bubbly mess.

"Uh oh," Rafe said softly.

"Oh my god!" Alison ran to the washer, reaching over to turn it off.

"THIS IS FUN!" Katrina jumped into the suds, picking up a handful and throwing it into the air. "It's snow bubbles!"

"Katrina Rose, that's enough! Your clothes are soaked! Go change!"

"No, Mommy! I wanna play in the bubbles!"

"Katrina," Rafe warned. "Do what your mother says."

Katrina plopped down on her belly, rolling once more in the suds before quickly getting up and running back into the house.

"Rafe! How much soap did you use!"

"Um…too much?"

"You're only supposed to put in a capful!"

"Well you should have told me that!"

"I said to follow the directions on the bottle!"

"Well it was a really dirty load, so I put in a little extra."

"How much extra!"

"I prefer not to answer," Rafe admitted.

"Oh! Look at this mess!"

"Don't worry. I'll clean it up."

"Oh. Okay. Alright, look, why don't you clean it up and I'll go finish breakfast, okay?"

"Alright."

Alison stepped back into the kitchen, finishing what Rafe had started. It looked like her good news would have to wait.

* * *

Rafe smiled, watching Katrina from the hallway as she put together the pieces of a train track. The train had been a last minute gift. When he saw how much she had wanted one at Ian and Eve's Christmas party, he couldn't help but give in.

"Hey, breakfast its ready."

"Hey. I'm real sorry about the washer. I was just trying to help out."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I won't put you in charge of it again."

"Yeah, I might break it," Rafe said with a laugh. "Hey, weren't you going to tell me something?"

"Yeah, I was. I…"

_Ding Dong_

"Someone's at the door!" Katrina hollered.

"I'll get that." Alison walked over to the door and opened it, seeing her grandmother waiting on the doorstep.

"Merry Christmas, Alison!"

"Nana, Merry Christmas. Oh please, come in." Alison took Amanda's coat and gave her a hug. "It's so good to see you."

"NANA!" Katrina ran over to Amanda and hugged her. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, darling! I brought some presents for you!" Nana handed her several bags.

"Oh boy!" Katrina grabbed the bags happily and ran back to where she had been playing on the floor. Within minutes, all of the toys had been unwrapped, and Katrina was quite possibly the happiest girl on Christmas morning.

"Oh thank you, Nana!" Katrina ran to Amanda, throwing her arms around the older woman.

"You are most certainly welcome!"

Katrina ran back over to the floor to play with all of her new toys.

"What you got, Princess?" Rafe asked as he walked into the room, seeing the floor, once again, littered with wrapping paper after he had already picked it up.

"Nana brought me some presents! Look at the little doggy!" Katrina turned on a little dog and set him down, laughing as he walked across the floor and barked.

"Hello, Amanda," Rafe said.

"Hello, Rafe. Merry Christmas. I'm glad you both are here. Can we all sit down?"

"Sure." Alison said as the three of them took a seat.

"Darling, I didn't just come here to give Katrina Christmas presents. I came here because I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"The youth center. That anonymous donor who paid for it…well, that was me."

"Nana, it was you!"

"Amanda, I don't know how to thank you."

Amanda smiled. "You don't have to thank me. I did it because it was the right thing to do, and I wanted to help."

"Nana, why didn't you tell us before?"

"Ever since you left the mansion, Alison, you've been so independent. I know you insist on doing things yourself, and you don't always accept my help when I offer it. And darling, that's fine. But when I saw how important this was to you, and Rafe, and Katrina as well, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I had originally made that fellow an offer to move his company somewhere else, oh but he refused. He was an awful man. But I guess he got what he deserved because then I heard all of these reports on the news that he was arrested. So I took the opportunity to pay for the center."

"Nana, this has got to be one of the best Christmas presents you've ever gotten me." Alison hugged her grandmother.

"Amanda, thank you again. This really means a lot to us."

Amanda smiled at both of them. "You're welcome. And I imagine that center will bring a lot of good things to this city for many years to come."

Just then, the sound of someone beeping a horn out in the driveway was heard.

Amanda lit up. "Oh! That must be my special surprise!"

"Special surprise?" Alison asked.

"Katrina, darling!" Amanda called out. "Come here."

Katrina got up from the floor and bounced over to her great-grandmother. "Yes, Nana?"

"Darling, I have a very special present for you waiting outside."

Katrina's eyes widened with excitement. "ANOTHER PRESENT! Wow! What is it! What is it!"

Amanda laughed. "Well you'll just have to go outside and see for yourself! But I will tell you…it's so big, I had to have help bringing it to you!"

"Oh wow!"

Rafe and Alison looked at each other, the same thought on each of their minds.

"Alison, please tell me it's not what I think it is."

Alison shook her head. "I would but unfortunately, this is my nana we're talking about."

They held their breath, grabbing their coats and shoes as they nervously followed Amanda and their daughter out the door. And there, standing in the middle of the driveway, was exactly what they feared to be true.

"A PONY!" Katrina squealed as she ran over to it. "NANA! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

"I found her in the stable this morning! Santa must have left her there!" Amanda laughed.

"She's so pretty! I'm gonna name her Cookie!"

Rafe stared at the brown, four-legged animal standing in his snowy driveway, his mouth wide open. "I can't believe your grandmother actually did it. She could have got her a dog. She could have got her a cat. But no. Oh no! She went out and bought our daughter a pony. I can't believe it."

"Oh, I can believe it," Alison said.

"Can I ride her? Please!"

"Oh yes, of course, darling! Gus, will you?"

The horse handler picked up Katrina and placed her on the pony's back. "Hold on tight, little miss."

"Oh boy! Mommy, Daddy! Look at me! I'm sitting on the pony!"

"How many times are we going to have to drive her over to your grandmother's just to ride that pony?"

Alison smiled as she watched Gus lead the pony around the yard, Katrina laughing the whole time. "At least several times a week I'm sure."

"Look! I'm a cowgirl! Giddy up horsy!"

As much as Rafe hated the idea of his daughter having a pony, he did have to admit that he loved seeing her happy. Rafe looked at Alison. "Kissing boys. Having a pony. Wanting a two hundred dollar dollhouse. We certainly have our hands full with that one, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and it looks like our hands are about to get even fuller with another one."

"Yeah, no kidding. Wait a minute…what?"

Alison grinned.

Rafe eyes grew wider, realizing now what Alison had wanted to tell him earlier. "Alison, are you? Are we?"

Alison smiled, shaking her head. "Yes. Merry Christmas, Rafe."

"Alison!" Rafe wrapped his arms around her, picking her up a little as he gave her a kiss. "When did you find out!"

"This morning! I was waiting for the right moment to tell you but I kept getting interrupted."

"This is real? We're really going to have another one?" Rafe's eyes shone with happiness.

"We're really going to have another one, at least that's what the test said," she laughed.

Rafe couldn't help but kiss her again. "This could quite possibly be the best Christmas ever."

Alison smiled. "I think Katrina would agree."

Rafe smiled, putting his arm around Alison as they looked over at Katrina, laughing and cheering on her new pony.

The End


End file.
